Turkey to build US$1.2 million labs for UTG

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and other stakeholders have finalised a project to build four laboratories for the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (SMAHS) of the University of The Gambia.

The project discussion was finalised when a Turkish delegation composed of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) visited The Gambia from 15 to 17 May, 2017.

The Turkish delegation comprised of Ali Ibrahim Okur and Egemen Sener, as well as Prof. Salih Mollaoglu from the School of Medicine of the University of Yildirim Beyazit, and Sabri Er, representative in the Turkish office of the Islamic Development Bank.

According to a press release from the Turkish embassy in Banjul, cost of the project is US$1.2 million, 60 per cent of which would be borne by TIKA.

“The remaining cost would be met by the other stakeholders in the project,” the release said. “The Turkish side in cooperation with the other stakeholders would realise the project on a grant basis.

“In this vein, all the equipment of the four labs are envisaged to be purchased by the relevant stakeholders and the medical personnel and technical staff for the labs would be granted scholarships by the Turkish government to enable their studies at Turkish universities.

“For this matter, within three years, about 15 students would be granted scholarships to study at the Medicine Faculties in Turkey.

“The project, to be realised by the end of 2019, aims to provide The Gambia with fully-fledged four labs to enable all medical analysis and blood test.”