He made this disclosure during GRA’s activity report’s and financial statement’s presentations before the legislators of the Public Enterprise Committee (PEC).
According to him, the mission of NRA is to develop, maintain and manage the national road network in an efficient and sustainable manner and also to ensure maximum safety on the roads.
He added that the mandate of the NRA as per the 2003 Road Authority Act is for administration, control, construct and maintenance all roads and also initiate and prepare professional designs and contract documents for all civil engineering, coastal engineering and architectural works.
He disclosed that the two joint border posts construction work was delayed as a result of a disagreement between The Gambia and Senegal over positioning facilities but with the recent change of government, the agreement has been reached on the matter and design work has begun.
Director Senghore said the construction component of the bridge includes construction of one market on the either banks of the bridge whereby both markets will each comprise 75 stalls with priority to accommodate the displaced vendors at the Senegambia Bridge.
He further explained that there is limited capacity, scarcity of materials old and inappropriate equipment, inherited magnitude of road maintenance backlog, uncontrolled encroachment of road sights of way and the total implementation of the NRA Act regarding source of funding are some of the constraints that the authority is encountering.
“The National Roads Authority (NRA) will continue to increase training on both staff and contractors in order to improve quality of maintenance but the government of The Gambia should increase fundings for road maintenance programmes and also promote participation of private sector participation on road infrastructure development” he concluded.
