By Makutu Manneh
President Adama Barrow has visited and inspected ongoing project works within the West Coast Region, urging contractors of these projects to fast track their work, because he wants them to be part of his achievement in celebrating Gambia’s 60th Independence.
“I want these projects as part of events for the country’s 60th Independence celebration. We are celebrating in high gear,” the president said at various project sites.
At the University of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (USET) in Brikama, the president told the workers that he thinks they are a “little bit” behind schedule, adding that when he was briefed about the progress of the construction of the University, he thought the work has gone beyond what he was seeing at the site.
He added: “I am targeting this as part of events for my independence celebration.”
Both Minister Pierre Gomez and the consultant said an advance payment of D30 Million was made to the contractor in order to fast track the works, and was told that the project is to finish by 15 November this year.
For the information of the reader, the foundation stone for the construction of this first phase of USET Campus in Brikama was laid on 30 July 2022 and it comprises the Department of Civil Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The President also took time to inspect the ongoing construction of the Gambia College dormitories, which should accommodate five hundred students after completion.
At the construction site of the National Emergency Treatment Centre in Farato, the President expressed delight with the infrastructure but cautioned the contractor to ensure that they meet the time targeted for completion of the project.
The Barrow administration deemed it necessary to build an emergency treatment center after the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the center will have one thousand and five hundred beds, a recovery room, an X-ray center, intensive care unit, delivery and recovery rooms, conference center, public health laboratories, observation and treatment centers, among others.
In Brusubi where the construction of the_ National Food and Drug Quality Laboratory is ongoing, the president was informed that the construction of this project will be completed by June 2025 and that they are on target as all materials are available to them. The president was happy with this assurance, promising that he will be coming there to inaugurate the completion. He added that the country has many challenges when it comes to testing drugs, which they have to send to other countries like Ghana, to be tested.
“This causes a lot of delay and costs money. So there is need to have our own,” he said.
He also stopped at the Independence Stadium to inspect the ongoing renovation work going on at the country’s main stadium, and said it is unfortunate that the stadium is banned to host home matches.
“I think the previous government should have taken care of this. It is not our fault, and it is not our making. We will fix it and think about building another one,” the president concludes.
