By Makutu Manneh
President of The Gambia, Adama Barrow inspected the Banjul road project worth over 40 million US Dollars.
President Barrow was accompanied by the Mayor of Banjul, Rohey Malick Lowe to inspect the on-going works on Banjul roads, sewage and drainage project which started in 2019.
“Banjul is our capital city. We cannot afford to ignore the place. This project is worth over 40 million United States dollars and it is worth it”, President Barrow said.
President Barrow said when he visited the city in 2018; he saw that the place was completely dilapidated and that compelled him to do a project to improving the face of Banjul.
Gambia’s head of state believes the project has a positive impact on the lives of Banjulians this year since the streets were inundated with water during raining seasons in previous years.
Banulians came out to welcome the president and there were Mandinka and Wollof cultural displays in the streets of Banjul as the president toured the city.
Masquerades such as ‘Kankunreng’ and ‘Simba’ were also in the midst of the women dominated crowd.
Barrow said if the roads and sewage in Banjul were not constructed by his administration, it could have paved way for the spread of a serious disease in the city. President Barrow went on to say that the project is not important for Banjul alone, but for the entire country.
He said the Banjul project will be replicated in towns like Brikama and Serrekunda.
“This project will be replicated in other cities for those places to also have concrete and paved roads, drainages and sewage systems”, he said.
President Barrow said Serrekunda and its catchment areas have already been assessed.
He said he is satisfied with the on-going work and wants the support of everyone especially that of the Banjulians.
Mbye Dumbuya a native of Banjul said the new road construction has given them less problems during this year’s rainy season.
However, he said he expects the government to bring more development to Banjul especially in the areas of youth and women empowerment.
“We are happy and delighted particularly by the visit of the president to inspect the works in progress and we look forward to more development”, he said.
Neneh Toubabo, also a resident of Banjul, made similar remarks as she said they were disturbed by the rains in the past years.
“We never had a good road in Banjul since the time of our ancestors, that’s why we are grateful to Barrow for this project”, she said.
During the tour of the city the president made a surprise visit to St Joseph Senior Secondary School.
“It was a surprise visit and the students made the best of the opportunity to tell him some of their challenges and the support they need”, Minister of Basic and Secondary Education Claudiana Cole said.
She said the president acknowledged and asked the students to write down their challenges so she can forward it to him.
