By Fatou Sillah
Ebrima Sillah, The Gambia’s Minister of Transport, Works, and Infrastructure, has announced that the Port of Banjul is now operating without congestion for the first time in many years. Speaking during an interview with Peter Gomez, Minister Sillah expressed satisfaction at the rapid improvements made under the management of Alport.
“For the first time, I guess in many, many, many years, we have not had any form of congestion. We don’t have congestion anymore, and in fact, thankfully, we have written to the ministry of trade to inform the businesses and also the shipping lines that congestion charges in the Gambia should now be eliminated completely because we no longer have congestion at the port of Banjul,” he said.
Sillah credited these improvements to the operations of Alport, the company currently managing the port, noting that the progress has been remarkable.
“Right now, if you go to the port, it is the port that is waiting for vessels because they, in most cases, cannot match with the speed at which these people work. I have been there several times, and I have seen the remarkable progress that has been made so far. We have no ship in queue. The arrangement at the port grounds is extremely, very good now,” he said.
The minister also highlighted ongoing efforts to digitize port operations. Stating, “We are moving to the next stage of digitalization, especially with gate passes and a whole lot of things.”
Addressing concerns about the revenue-sharing arrangement between the government and Alport—under which Alport retains 80% of operational income despite not introducing new equipment—Sillah emphasized that the government still benefits significantly from the concession.
“If you look at the volume at the end of every year, four percent of that comes to the Gambia government; that is actually more than the revenue that was being generated by The Gambia ports authority,” he stated.