By Fatou Sillah
Saikou Sawo, leader of the Golden Era Party, has called for a comprehensive modernization of The Gambia’s infrastructure, criticizing the government’s ongoing road projects as poorly planned, costly, and substandard.
Speaking in an interview with Kerr Fatou, Sawo questioned both the durability and cost-effectiveness of the roads constructed under President Adama Barrow’s administration.
“From the airport to Sting Corner, they said they spent roughly 83 million for 22 kilometers of road. We still don’t have a world-class road. Roads flood, roads break down within 12 months of construction, and then you have other countries that, per kilometer, are spending on average 500,000 to 700,000, so there is five times more, and then we still don’t have a world-class road.”
Sawo argued that the country needs a long-term strategic blueprint for roads and bridges to effectively connect communities nationwide. “It will take 3,500 square kilometers of road to connect, to pave the whole of Gambia. I know it is going to be a phase; it is not something that is not going to happen overnight, but we should have a clear blueprint. We should have bridges by now, Banjul Barra; we should have a bridge by now,” he stressed.
The opposition leader also criticized the state of the ferry system, describing it as unsafe and outdated.
“We need good ferries, not these secondhand refurbished ferries from Europe. Look at the ferry Senegal is using; you can’t even compare it to the Gambia. A country that cares about its people would not put them in those old, crappy ferries. I get nightmares when I even see people on that ferry,” he said.
Looking ahead, Sawo outlined his vision of transforming The Gambia into a regional logistics hub, capitalizing on its geographic location along the Atlantic Ocean.
“Our agenda is how Gambia could be the number one logistics hub that could easily be a $10 billion industry because we have the Atlantic Ocean, we can have giant vessels, we can partner with companies like Maersk Line to have those vessels come here, and we can build world-class roads that connect the country,” he added.