The
managing director of The Gambia Ports Authority has spoke highly of the
authority’s 20 year new articulated master plan, saying with the new political
dispensation, the future of GPA looks bright.
Ousman
Jobarteh was speaking during a recent interview with reporters at his office in
Banjul about the authority’s long term strategy plans, achievement, and
challenges over the years.
However,
the new master plan, which 2019-2038, was developed by an international
consultancy firm based in the Netherlands. The new master plan, also identifies
all the infrastructural improvement needs of the port.
The
primary recommendation of the consultancy, he said, is the need to extend the
ship accommodation at the port.
Jobarteh
recalled that the initiative started in 2002 and was updated in 2008.
‘‘But
over the years water has passed over the bridge in term of the component,’’ he
added.
The
port, he added, has new challenges and that some of the component were
identified and other are already been achieved while some have already phased
out or irrelevant.
‘‘Currently,
GPA has new challenges in the growth businesses. And this has warranted the
port to come up with this master plan’’.
He continued; ‘‘As economic operator our aim
is to ensure efficiency and improvement in cargo handling, so that we can
contribute meaningfully to the economic development of the country’’.
Mr
Jobarteh however, observed that with rapid growth in terms of the volume of
businesses at the port in the last 7years has been overwhelming, saying all
this development is due to confidence in the domestic investment climate and
new political dispensation that is given businesses and cargo receivers more
confidence to do business in the country.
‘‘The
volume keep on increasing and these very strong and real indicators is in line
with the projector in the national development that is produced by the Ministry
of Finance’’.
He
thus expressed appreciation with this increased in the volume of businesses at
the ports, noting that as an economic operator, GPA’s inputs have a bearing on
the socio-economic development of the country.
GPA
MD disclosed that plans are underway to expand the land, demolish structure so
as to create more space for container storage around Half Die area in Banjul.
To
this end, he calls for the need to shift to immediate digitalization that is
the computerization of the ports operations.
He
noted that the volume that the port is handling calls for IT Solution as the
port is handling containers in the excess of 130,000 boxes per annum.
‘‘Therefore,
computerization would greatly help in information handling and processing.
There is an institutional arrangement of human resources production improvement
measures which are all articulated in the new master plan”.
Regarding
its short term plans, Mr Jobarteh maintained that GPA have a five years
business plan that is set to rollout projects that would immediately addressed
the port challenges and in the longer term for sustained growth and improvement
of infrastructural development.
The
assets of the Ports, he added, are based on the human capital; which he
described, as one of the most important components at the port.
“GPA
belongs to the country and so our objective is to contribute more meaningfully
toward the socio-economic development of The Gambia. 80 percent of the
international trade of the country passed through the port. Secondly the
developments that are we witnessing at the port have been unprecedented in
terms of the growth and the indicators are strong and real. We need to harness
that potential for it to serve not only The Gambia, but the sub region”.
