By Sarib Manneh
Commuters plying the Banjul and Barracrossing point said crossing by canoe has become their worst nightmare with the breakdown of both ferries.
With both ‘KuntaKinteh’ and ‘Kanilai’ ferries out of service, commuters lament that they are now at the mercy of boat ownerswho have increased their fares exorbitantly.
Ebrima Joof, a student of St. Augustines Senior Secondary School in an interview with Foroyaa on Tuesday 16,2024, said now they encounter their worst nightmare when crossing from Banjul to Barra or vice versa because of the exorbitant fares charged by boat owners.
“Thousands of people use the Banjul-Barra crossing point daily, but the challenges we face include paying fares as high as two hundred Dalasi for a single trip, which does not include the D50 amount paid to porters who carry passengers on and off the boat. This is really challenging for most students coming from the North Bank Region and attending schools in Banjul and elsewhere,” he added.
Yusupha Touray, a business person in Banjul,said he is fearful of the boats because they are usually loaded to full capacity with bags and other luggage, including passengers. He said most of the time, passengers do not have a place to sit due to lack of space, saying some are squeezed or made to sit on top of bags and luggage.
“One would have expected these boat owners would be compassionate with these passengers and assist them during these trying times. But this does not seem to apply to boat owners and in fact when it was confirmed that the ferries will not operate for a duration of time, they increased the fares,” Touray added.
Touray added that it sometimes cost passengers up to three hundred dalasi just to cross this particular way late in the evening.
“In these hard times when the cost of basic commodities has skyrocketed and people’s earnings have stagnated, it is truly inhumane to charge D300 per head, just to cross to one side of the river, not to talk of the cost of luggage and payment to porters who will carry both passengers and luggage on their shoulders to the boats,” Touray lamented bitterly.
This reporter visited Babjul Shipyard to see the progress of maintenance works on‘KuntaKinteh’ amd ‘Kanilai’ ferries.
According to Mustapha N. Manjang, senioroperations manager at Banjul Shipyard,‘KuntaKinteh’ ferryshould be ready in ten days. He said carpentry works will be completed towards the end of next week, adding that all rehabilitation work schedule is on track and that the Banjul Shipyard’s technical and operations team under the guidance of the General Manager, will ensure that the ferry rehabilitation work is professionally done and handed over to the Ferries management according to plan.
For the information of the readership, the two ferries are currently out of service after being withdrawn from service for repair works.
