By Fatou Sillah
The Minister of Transport, Works, and Infrastructure, Ebrima Sillah, has assured the public that the newly commissioned Green Ferry, Barra, will return to service today following a brief suspension for routine maintenance.
The minister addressed growing public concern over the temporary withdrawal of the vessel, which comes less than two months after its official inauguration by President Adama Barrow ahead of the upcoming Tobaski celebrations.
According to Minister Sillah, the ferry was taken out of operation on May 18 to undergo scheduled maintenance as recommended by the vessel’s manufacturers.
“Since the 18th of this month, Barra has been withdrawn for routine maintenance. This is what we call the scheduled routine maintenance that we have actually embarked on, and it will go on till the 23rd,” he explained.
He emphasized that the maintenance exercise is being conducted under the supervision of engineers from Damen Shipyards, the company that built the ferry, noting that strict adherence to maintenance schedules is essential for safe and efficient operations.
“When the ferry was built by Damen Shipyards, one of the critical issues that they emphasized at the time of the handover was the need for scheduled routine maintenance and that those things should not be neglected,” he said.
Minister Sillah stressed that the government is prioritizing preventive maintenance to avoid the operational challenges experienced with older ferry fleets.
“We don’t want to take any risk now regarding this new ferry because, remember that the fleet that we had before, most of the time, the problems that were associated with the overall running of some of these fleets were because of a lack of routine maintenance,” he said.
Responding to concerns over whether the country could sustain frequent maintenance on a newly inaugurated ferry, he compared the process to servicing a vehicle and said routine checks were necessary to prevent major damage.
“Just like your vehicle, every now and then you have to change the oil filters and all those little things to ensure that you don’t cause irreparable damage to your engine,” he said.
The minister further downplayed concerns that the temporary withdrawal had disrupted ferry crossings, stating that alternative vessels remain in operation.
“Right now we have two ferries operational; we have the Kunta Kinteh and also the Kanilai, so the withdrawal of Barra is not in any way having any serious contingent effect on the operations of the ferries right now,” he said.
Reassuring commuters ahead of the busy Tobaski travel period, Minister Sillah confirmed that the Green Ferry would resume service as planned.
“I can guarantee that by the 23rd of this week, this ferry will be back in operation and business will continue as usual,” he said.
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