The two-day event held at the African Princes Hotel, was also meant to measure performance, thus creating an opportunity for department heads to report on how their various units are faring.
Kebba Tamsir Njie, chairman of the Board of Directors of The Gambia Ports Authority (GPA), underscored the importance of team work in achieving any meaning result, saying the retreat provides a unique opportunity for the new board and senior management of the authority to interact and get to know each other in enhancing the growth of the institution.
“The board is appointed at a time when the authority is undergoing major transformation. First in the governance environment with the promulgation of the new instruments by government such as the State-owned Enterprise Act, Performance Contracts as well as the establishment of the State-owned Enterprise Commission,” he said.
He noted that another important aspect in the PPP concession is being conceived to attract the new needed investment to improve efficiency at the Banjul Ports and the development of the new sea port at Sanyang in Kombo South.
Njie also disclosed that the retreat would consider the review of the 1972 Act to keep abreast with the changing circumstances since its promulgation 50 years ago.
“The Authority is the number one State Owned Enterprise. It has been for decades. It has placed The Gambia in the forefront of regional trade and we must fight to regain and maintain that glory.”
He assured that the authority would continue to invest in staff to ensure that the institution, once again becomes a place every good product would want to work.
“You have a Managing Director, who knows too well what it takes to make the Authority’s engine tick. I urge, on behalf of the Board, that you rally behind him as one strong team supported by the Board to perform beyond expectation. We are encouraged that you will live up to the billing to meet all targets as set out in the Performance Contract. We have all the confidence in you that you that you will do the needful.” he added.
For his part, Ousman Jobarteh, managing director of The Gambia Ports Authority, spoke of the significance of the retreat, saying that it would not only provide an opportunity for stocktaking, but to chart a way forward.
MD Jobarteh disclosed that the importance of GPA in the macroeconomic development of the country need not be emphasised, further harping on some challenges hindering their growth.
The retreat, he added, would therefore accord them the opportunity to strive harder in their quest to harness their diversity for the growth of the institution.
“It is a small port and easy to develop. But the legacy we want to leave behind should be our own motivation.”
