On March 19th, passengers were delayed for 12 hours in the ferry – Kunta Kinteh – which was reportedly stuck off the Barra Landing Site and spent the night at sea, leading to the death of one passenger who was in an ambulance bound for the Edward Francis Small Hospital Banjul.
Mr. Lamin Jawara, General Manager of Ferry Services, told the press that the ferry got stranded because its ridder propeller had become entangled in a fishing net – adding this prevented the ferry from plying, thus, it spent the night at the Barra Landing Site.
According to him, the ferry’s captain realised that and he rushed and removed it (net) from the ferry’s rudder propellers and attempted to ply back to Banjul but was hindered by low tide.
Mr. President, it is necessary for swift actions to be taken by the Gambia Ferry Services so that such a situation does not happen again.
Since the Ferry Services is a GPA subsidiary, it would be good for GPA to allocate its dividend to the Ferry Services to enable them to buy parts and new ferries.
Mr. President, the Gambia has several friendly countries, and it would not be a bad idea to negotiate with our partners for assistance to maintain the ferries, upgrade the ferry services and modernise the terminals of Banjul and Barra that would help to ease pressure on the main ferry services in Banjul and Barra.
Mr. President, in 2021, a Turkish multinational private company called Negmar Company Ltd., met the requirement to operate on 24 hours at Banjul-Barra but the project is yet to kick start.
The coming of the Negmat Company would bring competition, and passengers will have the choice based on efficient and effective service delivery.
Finally, Mr. President, the hiking prices of basic commodities during this holy month of Ramadan is alarming.
During the month of Ramadan, it is expected that basic commodities would be affordable, but some business people are hell-bent on inflating prices of their commodities during the Ramadan.
Retailers should not take the advantage of the absence of price control to increase the prices of their commodities without justification. Government should be alerted and issue warnings when necessary to prevent undue increment of prices of commodities in the country.
Good day!