Ebrima Cham said the proceeds of the loan and the Istisna would be used toward the financing of the construction of the Sukuta-Jambanjelly road project.
Mr Cham, who revealed this recently at the 10th GAMWORKS annual general meeting, said additional financing is provided by the government by way of counterpart funding to the tune of US$3 million, bringing the total cost to US$23 million.
The project was approved in February 2013, signed in May 2013 and project effectiveness was achieved in September 2013, Mr Cham said.
According to GAMWORKS official, the proposed road would commence from where the Westfield-Sukuta road project terminated at the edge of Sukuta, and would run through Jabang, Jambur, Latriya and end at Jambanjelly in the Kombo South district of the West Coast Region.
The Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure is executing the project, which is being implemented by GAMWORKS.
According to Mr Cham, the agency would undertake all the project implementation activities, including routine monitoring and supervision, and measuring progress on project implementation.
He further stated that a memorandum of understanding was signed with the Ministry, the National Roads Authority and GAMWORKS to define the roles of the various parties in the implementation of the project.
He highlighted the status of the project, stating that there was some delay in the recruitment of the design and supervision consultant.
The recruitment process is expected to be completed by early 2015, to enable the design studies to start thereafter, Cham added.
He revealed that the contractors were invited to pre-qualify and selected contractors would go to take part in the bidding process for the civil works, and construction works are expected to start in the second half of 2015.
Regarding some of the major developments achieved by GAMWORKS, Mr. Cham said 2013 was a very good year for GAMWORKS as far as new projects are concerned.
He said this included enhancing value addition in the Groundnut Sector Project, commonly referred to as the GCC Groundnut Project, whose main objectives include to modernize the assets and operations of the Gambia Groundnut Corporation, GGC.
This is a major project, which is different in nature from the other projects that have been implemented by the agency in the past, Mr Cham went on.
“It is a challenging project, and reflects the confidence that the government and our partners have in the capacity and ability of GAMWORKS to competently manage various kinds of projects,” he said.
The second project is the construction of Sukuta-Jambanjelly road project, he said, adding that the Westfield-Sukuta road project was also implemented by GAMWORKS.
It was due to the good performance of the agency on the previous operations, this was why this new project has also been given to GAMWORKS to implement, he continued.
The Gambia government finances both projects with the assistance of the Islamic Development Bank, and that confirmed the confidence that government and the hank have in GAMWORKS, he added.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs had for the second time conferred on the agency a contract, which was funded entirely from the national budget, according to Cham.
He said the partnership between GAMWORKs and the University of The Gambia grows from strength to strength.
Management with the support of the board would continue to excel in the implementation of projects and contracts, to maintain the confidence that their partners and clients have in GAMWORKS, he further stated.
