Hon. Minister of Tourism made this statement when he was responding to questions from deputies regarding the ongoing projects works under his ministry.
He said government had tried to access funds to fix James Island, but it was not materialized. “So now we have succeeded in getting that money; so I can assure members that there will be an international tender through the World Bank and the Government of The Gambia for the Kunta Kinteh Island to be restored to its originality and I think it is one of our achievements as a government preserving one of our greatest sites which is of cause a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
With regard to other sites, Minister Bah informed deputies that it was all part of the component of the World Bank Project.
“We decided to make sure that we put everything holistically before the World Bank,” he said.
Alhajie S. Darboe, Minority leader and also member for Brikama North, asked the Hon. Minster about the ongoing work at Fort Bullen, whether his ministry was considering ensuring the tour guides and whether the management of these particular sites was giving incentives for proper management of the sites.
In response, Minister Bah told deputies that “Fort Bullen is a UNESCO World Heritage Site”, and it was tampered with by the previous regime, hence “the Ministry is now doing what its takes to make sure that it is restored to its originality, and this requires specialists who are trained to restore sites to their originality, which costs a lot of money”.
He added: “We are trying to see how best we can squeeze this within the World Bank Project, because Fort Bullen is on top of Government priorities as it is a UNESCO World Heritage Sites.”
