Brikama is one of the largest cities in The Gambia. It lies southwest of the country's capital, Banjul. Brikama is the headquarters of the West Coast Region, and is the largest city in the region with over twenty-five wards.
According to the 2013 Population and Housing Census, the commercial town has a population of over 100,000 inhabitants. However, residents have described the community as the worst in terms of road infrastructure, despite its size.
Speaking to The Point exclusively at the Brikama Garage, Lamin Camara, commercial driver, described the poor feeder roads as horrible. He said the poor feeder roads are the major challenge drivers and commuters face in Brikama.
"We constantly encounter lots of difficulties when driving around the town because the poor feeder roads and stagnant water within Brikama often damage our vehicles,” he lamented.
Amadou Beyai, a van driver who plies the Brikama Car Park and Makumbaya, also said bad feeder roads are the greatest concern for both commuters and drivers.
"Mostly we carry passengers into communities and that is not safe because children are many in the community and accidents can happen anytime," he said.
The commercial driver added that during heavy rainfall, passengers often find it very difficult to reach their various destinations as a result of shortage of commercial vehicles in the garage. This, he noted, often happened owing to rampant stagnant water across the city.
“Poor feeder roads have been a major challenge in Brikama and the satellite communities for many years, especially in the rainy season,” he reiterated.
Driver and commuters thus called on the Brikama Area Council to construct good feeder roads and sewage system within the town to ease transportation of goods and services. This, they said, would boost social development in the commercial town.
When contacted for comment, Lamin Singhateh, public relations officer for Brikama Area Council (BAC), said “the council has a plan” for the feeder roads within Brikama Local Government Area.
"One thing is certain - that this council has a plan for these feeder roads and, of course, it is our priority to make sure we make communication easy within the society and among habitants of the region," he said.
He expressed optimism that council’s “2024 budget will fully focus on feeder road construction” to lessen challenges of poor feeder roads but was quick to add that the council would or could not construct all roads considering the size of the region.
