A
number of commercial drivers have called on the Kanifing Municipal Council
(KMC) to construct standard car parks within the metropolis to ease
transportation.
The
Kanifing Municipality as the busiest and most populous administrative area in
The Gambia has several car parks connecting it to Banjul and West Coast Region
but there is no standard car park.
Speaking
to The Point at Serekunda Car Park, Babucar Suso, chief of Serekunda car park,
described the condition of the park as dreadful. The park, he said, is very
small and many commercial drivers park their cars there before departing for a
trip.
He
said that most drivers and commuters find it difficult to get into the car park
especially during the rainy season due to its overcrowded nature filled with
stagnant water.
“We have been suffering in this park for many
years. Even the last government had promised to build it for us. But they never
do so,” he lamented.
He
said drivers are always in the habit of parking their cars by the road, which
he said, is not only affecting passers-by but private cars along the road.
Suso,
an ex-commercial driver, said KMC should act fast and provide them a better car
park as the current one is too small.
He
suggests that the Buffer Zone Park could be a better central car park for all
the commercial cars within KMC.
“Buffer
Zone is connected to all communities. So if it is transformed into a car park,
all commuters will get transport directly to their destinations,” he noted.
Amadou
Camara, taxi driver also expressed similar sentiments, noting that if that
happens it would be good for all travelers and drivers.
“Provision
of standard car park will minimize the competition between taxi and van drivers
in the streets that may cause accidents. It also reduces fares because if there
is fixed cars to every destination, commuters will only pay one fare to their
destination,” he said.
Musa
Touray, a driver at Banjul car park in Serekunda stated: “Our greatest
challenge here is lack of standard car park. We are really in need of it.”
Standard
car park, he believes, is significant in easing travelling from Serekunda to Banjul
as well as help commuters to recover forgotten materials in commercial cars.
Ebrima
Njie, head of Bakau Car Park at Westfield Junction also bemoaned the
dilapidated nature of the car park, saying the park is small leading to
frequent congestion within that area.
Njie said there is need for the Council to
consider the plights of commercial drivers and provide them with standard car
parks as they are instrumental in the society like any other person.
Subsequently
he called on the Council to give them a suitable land for use as car park to
ease their work.
Muhammed Drammeh, transport councilor for KMC said the Council has planned to construct three car parks within the municipality namely Abuko, Bundung and Bakoteh Car Park
The Westfield Junction and Banjul Car Parks in Serekunda, he clarified, are not recognized, further assuring that KMC would put measures in place to tackle the need of those drivers.
