The delegation's mission was to inspect the level of preparedness and the ongoing construction of the OIC-Bertil Harding Highway leading to the conference center and the hotel ahead of the scheduled 15th OIC Heads of State Summit in Banjul slated between 4th and 5th of May 2024.
Speaking during the courtesy visit to NRA, H.E. Ambassador Yousef M. Al-Dobeay, the Assistant Secretary for Political Affairs of the OIC Secretariat in Saudi Arabia, thanked the National Roads Authority (NRA) for all the efforts it is making right now for the success of the Summit in a few weeks.
“When we left the airport to our hotel, we realised that The Gambia had made a massive development in terms of the infrastructure of the roads compared to our last visit.”
“We as inspectors, have the obligation to inform the Member States what we have observed and witnessed by ourselves as they all are waiting for us to return with our assessment and make recommendations based on our perception of the country’s readiness to host,” he added.
According to him, OIC was concerned about the road conditions and not the accommodation. He added that what they have witnessed this time around made them very happy and comfortable to report to Member States positively upon return to Jeddah.
For his part, H.E. Omar Gibril Sallah, Gambian Ambassador in Jeddah, also also hailed the entire NRA team through its managing director for the level of work progress.
"We are very happy for the entire NRA team through its managing director for making us proud in the level of progress on the construction of the road," he said.
Ousman Sanyang, the managing director, NRA, said the physical progress of the road as of January was at 80% but the real progress is at 76%.
Given the pace at which the contractor is working, he said there is confidence that the planned completion date of August 2024 will be met.
He also informed the delegation about the upcoming massive campaign the NRA is planning in educating people about the usage of the latest infrastructure which the country is getting for the first time.
“We have never had two-by-three roads in the country with flyovers. We have made quite good progress right now and by April, there will be more progress on the roads,” he told the inspection team.
Sulayman Sumareh Janneh, deputy managing director of the National Roads Authority (NRA), said he was delighted that the inspection team from Jeddah was happy with the level of progress in the ongoing construction so far.
“Although the project’s implementation started before our arrival at the NRA, we are thankful for having a good and young team to be able to work together with our experience to help the country be successful in hosting the Summit.”
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the second largest organisation after the United Nations with a membership of 57 states spread over four continents. The Organisation is the collective voice of the Muslim world. It endeavours to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world.
