#National News

‘Dredging is solution to re-use lands for other purposes’

Nov 13, 2023, 12:06 PM | Article By: Adama Jallow

Banka Manneh, public relations manager (PRM) at Sino Majilak Jalbak (SMJ) Investment Company Limited has said that dredging is the solution to re-use lands for other purposes.

According to Mr Manneh, dredging is not new or the worst thing that could happen.

He said that “it may not be the best, but for us it is the best case scenario. The is because the alternative is to find more lands and destroy them.”

PRM Manneh made these remarks on Thursday during a day-long media coastal visit aimed at informing media houses about SMJs planned activities and objective of land reclamation to restore the environmental destruction along the Kombo South coastal side by sand mining.

The possible dredging of the coast, he said could create more land space for living, considering the fact that Kombo is congested with too many people with little land.  “We need to replace all these lands so that we can reuse them for other purposes,” he added.

Alhagie Moodou Samateh, SMJ Investment Company managing director said for the provision of sand for construction, the NRA needed about 75% of the test of the sand, but their sand scored about 95%, which is sufficient for what they need.

He added that the SMJ Company also secured sand washing and screening machines among other equipment for the OIC project, which he said arose when the OIC had some issues of sand for their ongoing road construction.

“We have excavators, floaters and pipes for the restoration of the old quarries which we are currently discussing with the government. Once we have agreed on terms, we will start that work. When we heard that the OIC people needed this specification of sand, we went ahead and got the equipment for the government so that work can continue,” he also said.