By Ndey Sowe
The first shipment of three Thousand five Hundred (3,500) tons of basalts (black stone) arrived on Monday, 20th December, 2021 in The Gambia for the construction of the 20 new urban 50km road OIC project, at the Gambia Sea Ports.
The occasion was witnessed by the media, senior officials both in the admin and the technical side from the Pavi Fort Gambia, Gambisara Enterprise and Huta Hegerfeld (a Saudi Company), which is a joint venture and one of the contractors implementing the OIC 50km urban road project.
The occasion saw the offloading of the basalt shipment.
Nfally Fadera, Head of Brand and Communication The Gambia OIC Secretariat, said the offloading of the basalt shipment is a huge milestone as far as the project implementation is concerned.
“This shows how serious all the stakeholders in the OIC project are when it comes to the implementation and execution of all our projects. I think the arrival of the shipment shows seriousness on their side, all stakeholders including the government to make sure we complete and implement all projects in a timely fashion,” said Mr. Fadera.
Ebrima Fofana, Structural Engineer Pavi Fort Gambia and Gambisara joint venture, said the shipment arrived in The Gambia on Monday by 9pm, where all staff and senior management were present. He added that they started offloading by 3pm on Tuesday.
“The ship carries about five thousand (5,000) tones but at the moment we have about three thousand and five hundred tones available now. I hope before Wednesday mid-night the ship will be done and we are expecting more basalts to come from Guinea Conakry and Freetown.
“Every week we are expecting around five thousand (5,000) tons which will be used for the OIC project. The Gambia is witnessing a very important project as it will bring a lot of benefits and infrastructural development in the country,” he remarked.
He said the OIC project will develop a lot of urban areas such as accessibility, and will make the country a socio-economic destination.
“We are serious about this project, that is why we are trying to make all the man power and equipment arrangements on the sites, an asphalt plant will also be done at the Brufut site,” he assured.
He commended all stakeholders, such as the Gambisara, Huta and Pavi Fort the Gambia for the great job they are doing to see to it that everything is done in a speedy way.
The President of the Republic, Adama Barrow on Wednesday, 27th October laid the foundation stone for 50KM OIC urban road project in the West Coast Region and Kanifing Municipality. This ambitious project is part of the country’s preparations to host the OIC Summit in 2022.
The construction of the 20 urban roads 50 km is expected to significantly decongest traffic, create employment, and help boost local commerce.
