Minister Sanyang Says Up to $30 Million Needed for New Correctional Facility, With Only $4 Million Secured

By Fatou Sillah

Abdoulie Sanyang, The Gambia’s minister of interior, told lawmakers on Wednesday that the government has secured only a fraction of the funding required to build a new correctional facility intended to replace the aging Mile 2 Central Prison.

Addressing members of the National Assembly, Mr. Sanyang said the government expects to raise $4 million from the planned sale of the Mile 2 property to the Gambia Ports Authority—the only confirmed financing for the project so far.

“This has been agreed, and the process of documentation is at an advanced stage; so far this is the only fund committed to the project. However, we are working with development partners to raise more money for the actualization of the project,” he said.

The proposed facility, to be constructed in Brikama Nyambikala, is projected to cost between $20 million and $30 million, a scale Mr. Sanyang said underscores the government’s ambition to transform the country’s correctional system.

“We are moving from the punitive to correctional; we are building a modern correctional facility, and then what is earmarked is between $20 and $25 million, up to $30 million. So it’s not a small amount; it is not a project of building prisons, and that’s not it. We are building a modern correctional facility,” he said.

The minister noted that because the project is still in the resource-mobilization phase, no construction contracts have been awarded. However, he said the allocation letter for the site has already been issued.

The Mile 2 prison, built during the colonial era, has long drawn criticism from rights groups for overcrowding and poor conditions. Government officials have repeatedly pledged reforms, but Wednesday’s update illustrated the steep financial hurdles still ahead.