In July 2018, President Adama Barrow made the following pronouncements in Essau; “Discussions have reached advanced stage to construct a bridge over Banjul-Barra crossing that would last fifty years. The foundation stone will be laid in 2019 and works will take four years to complete.” (State House, The Gambia, 2018)
In the same meeting, he pledged “My government will implement over 40 development projects under the NDP financing. I ask you to have a check list to assess my government based on these projects when we come here in 2021.”
Not only was it misleading to sound so certain by asking the people to have a checklist by which to assess the government’s performance within that specified timeline, it was as cruel as cruel can get. For decades upon decades, the people of Niumi, and the by extension the people of the North Bank Region of The Gambia have struggled on that ferry route, suffering constant delays, overcrowding, engine failures in open seas and exorbitant charges just to get to Banjul where every government service is situated thanks to a lack of decentralization.
Since that statement was made, President Barrow never once uttered a word about a bridge being built between the Banjul and Barra crossing at the point where the Gambia river meets the Atlantic. There were no updates on what is causing the delay or if the project was shelved altogether. Little surprise there since the same president stated that “when you are campaigning, you can say anything.” That is the definition of cruelty. Raise the hopes of desperate, poor rural people with false promises only to secure their trust and then abandon them to their misery with no concerns or regard for their struggles.
The next time anything was heard about that ambitious plan was on June 14, 2023, when the state minister for Transport, Works and Infrastructure Mr. Ebrima Sillah was questioned by members of the National Assembly when he appeared before them. Based on the timeline that his boss, President Barrow gave, there should have been a bridge in operation at the time he appeared before the National Assembly or at least by the end of that year (2023).
In complete contradiction of his boss, Minister Sillah revealed a key detail that his boss chose to misleadingly omit; the bridge would not be a Gambia government funded project, “the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will fund the construction of Banjul-Barra Bridge through ECOWAS Corridor Project.” (The Point, 2023)
Mr. Sillah further stated that feasibility studies were set to begin in July 2023. Just like the president’s promise of a bridge, there has been no feasibility study since that date, at least none that has been made public.
At every turn, state officials lie, deflect, mislead, and insult our collective intelligence with tall tales and giving hope where they can deliver none.
Among the series of lies they told as it related to the same ferry issues, they lied that new ferries were ordered, none came. They lied about ordering multiple new engines to install on the currently struggling ferries when no new ferries showed up. When no new engines showed up, they told hopeful citizens that a Turkish company was “given greenlight to operate ferry services” but no private operator showed up. A former Director of the ferry services made an unfathomable, and completely ridiculous statement that a new ferry route will be opened between Banjul and Albreda, much further afield along the river with no commercial prospects. Obviously, that was never going to happen. Minister Sillah, earlier this year, stated at the annual ministerial retreat that some Gambian investors who “expressed interest to either partner with the Ferry Services between Banjul and Barra or operate independently.”
As those lie fade into the sunset, meanwhile the commuters must deal with ferries that are essentially death traps. Hardly a month goes by without a major technical or mechanical incident hampering the operations of the dilapidated ferries currently plying that busy route prompting former Vice President in the first republic, B.B. Darboe, through his party, to call on the current government to stop playing “Russian roulette with Gambian lives.”
And that, is exactly what the Gambia government through its Ferry Services is doing with callous disregard for the safety of passengers plying that route.
Each time a major ferry disaster is averted, they come up with a new string of lies to sell to the public while doing nothing about the disaster waiting to happen, a tragedy that will cost hundreds of lives. If Gambians have come to learn anything about President Barrow, it is the obvious fact that he has no capacity for empathy, and that sociopathic trait seeps through and reflects in every policy action (or lack thereof) of his government filled with sycophants who will never stand up to him.
The most recent incident, few days ago (April 12, 2024), a ferry laden with hundreds of passengers and vehicles lost engine power and was left to the mercy of the waves and currents that made it veer off miles away from its intended destination along the river before finally getting stranded in shallow rocky banks. Passengers were rescued by wooden handcrafted boats, which are the only other options available as alternatives to cross that vast expanse between Banjul and Barra.
The remaining passengers were assisted by members of The Gambia armed forces marine unit before the ferry was towed with the vehicles and animals on board, back to Banjul where they started their trip from.
With a properly functioning ferry, the trip should last no more than 20 – 30 minutes, in fact that was the case when the ferries were newly acquired. Commuters now must endure a grueling hour (on a good day) or four hours (on a regular day) or a whole day if the engines fail as was the case on this latest incident.
Sadly, for us, this will be a distant memory come election time and the same lying, incompetent people will seek the mandate of the people yet again using tribalism, nepotism and regionalism to garner votes and the naïve voters will fall for it yet again.
We would pray for divine intervention but for us, it is a case of “yalla yalla beye sa toll” (call on God but do your farming). God answers prayers backed by action; we refuse to act.
Mankajang 