This was disclosed by Ebrima Sillah, minister for Transport, Works and Infrastructure, who, as part of his routine inspection of ongoing road projects, visited the area where works were ongoing.
Minister Sillah reminded that the current road constructions taking shape in Basse and its satellite communities in the region is meant to give major facelift to Basse, which he said, has been neglected for a very long time.
The Lot 1 road project, which covers communities in the Upper River Region (URR) is a 76km, contracted to Gai Construction, a Gambian-owned company and CityScape Associates as the Consultant.
Further, the project is divided into fifteen sections of roads and the contractor is currently working on six roads, i.e., Basse Manneh Kunda- Demba Kunda, Gambisara Road (13.93 km); Angalfuta Road Project (1.76 km); Basse Manneh Kunda and Basse Road Project (1.6 km); Dampha Kunda to Tambasansang Road (9.2 km); Chamoi to Dampha Kunda (2.8 km) and Brikamaba- Boiram- Njoben Road (6.33km).
Speaking at Basse Angalfuta Road shortly after inspecting various sites in the region, Minister Sillah explained that the road construction of Lot 1 spanned from the Upper River Region and parts of Central River Region, South.
“And overall, we have 76 kilometers of roads between these two regions. In the URR alone, we have about 62 to 63 kilometers of roads that we are doing in different parts of URR, including Basse town, where we are doing concrete roads to give a facelift to the town of Basse.”
Minister Sillah revealed that although the sprawling town of Basse has been neglected for a very long time and as a result, the infrastructure that exists there have been there since independence.
This, he said, is the reason His Excellency, the President Adama Barrow, thought it necessary to start the modernisation of Basse just like he did in Banjul.
“And steadily, we will do all the major roads in Basse, not at a single time, though, but we will approach it through phase you know approach, so that while we are doing other projects will include additional roads in Basse town, and then, you know, look at those critical routes that need, redoing or fixing quickly.”
Minister Sillah in addition made reference to major settlements outside of Basse town itself, that though very close to Basse, but have been constrained by a lack of roads to the point that they could not access the markets and even facilities in the area.
“And then, you know, it was always very difficult for people to traverse between Basse and some of these villages. One of those villages is Tamba, Sang-Sang, Numuyel, Demba Kunda, Manneh Kunda, on the outskirts and also Dampha Kunda.”
For his part, Ousman Sanyang, managing director of the National Roads Authority (NRA), explained that within Basse area they are working on 36 kilometers of roads, including the Demba Kunda road, Brikamaba, Wellingara to Kolda end’
MD Sanyang maintained that when the road project is complete, it will also create opportunity for regional integration and trade, which he said, is important for the country.
“We've looked at Basse today and we've been to Demba Kunda, we've been to the area near MRC, where we had the severe flooding this year. Again, one thing people need to remember is that these are all real flood prone issues. So, it’s the river bursting its banks due to rainfall and also river flow issues in terms of regional weather, weather issues. So this has been a problem or an issue in Basse for a long time.”
Lamin Jaiteh, deputy governor of Upper River Region, expressed delight with the level of ongoing works, highlighting that people in the local communities are appreciative of the ongoing road projects.
With regard to this initiative again, he thanked, His Excellency, President Adam Barrow and the Ministry for this good initiative.
“We the people in URR, have nothing to share. Because, imagine the number of roads that are being constructed right now has all gone to. So the delight from the people.”
Speaking earlier, Asa Awuku, resident engineer for Cityscape Associates, Lot 1, revealed that the overall project covers areas as far as Brikamaba in Central River Region to Basse and Sotukoba in the Upper River Region.
“And we've made substantial progress. Total progress as at that now is about 36%, we are making progress. The contractor has brought in equipment, concrete materials, which is to speed up the rate at which we are making concrete works, because that is a very, very substantial quantity in the works.”
For his part, Dawit Tessema, project manager for APC Lot 1 project, Gai Construction, assured the minister and partners to deliver the best quality work they could in the execution of all the roads inside Basse and beyond.
“We are providing adequate culverts to avoid flooding in highly affected areas especially in Demba Kunda. So, we are doing our best to ensure quality.”
Elsewhere, the minister and delegation also inspected ongoing works at 50 km Lot 2 project, contracted to Cornerstone Construction, another Gambian-owned company, and CityScape Associates is the Consultant.
Here the road features are surface dressing, with hydraulic structures, road furniture, sidewalks, drainage systems, and lighting systems.
The minister’s last sit of inspection was the Banni Salikene-Njaba Kunda Loop Road project in the North Bank Region (NBR), were significant progress has been made in terms of ongoing construction work.
