The concession agreement between GPA and Alport will significantly improve Banjul Port’s efficiency and turn it into a global hub, according to Ousman Jobarteh, managing director of the Gambia Ports Authority (GPA).
It is crucial to inform you that the concession is not intended to force people to quit their jobs or businesses. But it’s coming to improve port efficiency and solve our biggest problem, which is a quicker ship turnaround time. Addressing ship waiting times and increasing ship output are the port of Banjul’s problems,” he stated.
During yesterday’s stakeholders’ meeting with Alport and other port users, the GPA chief spoke about the concession agreement and the advantages it will have for the Banjul Port.
There are people who utilise the port every day, which is why we are calling on port users. During the stakeholder conference at the Atlantic Hotel in Banjul, he said, “Respecting all third parties’ engagements that are currently existing in the port is one of the things that Alport is committed to.”
In order to fulfil the statutory function and responsibility of all parties in a better way, he continued, “their role is to come and improve the infrastructure and improve efficiency.”
“You can be confident that individuals such as shipping agencies, clearing agencies, and merchants will continue to be important. However, by investing in infrastructure renovation and system enhancement, all company operations will be reorganised with the goal of increasing efficiency. I will urge everyone to approach this collaboration with optimism,” he underlined.
“In the meantime, the engineering study and the details that are required for the facility to be constructed in Sanyang will be investigated, and the construction will start in earnest,” he said, adding that Alport will run Banjul port for six years starting on January 11. Therefore, we anticipate that the first phase in Sanyang will be completed in six years.
He went on to say that this investment will increase port efficiency and guarantee Banjul Port’s sustained relevance amidst sub-regional competition.
According to the GPA MD, the Gambia Port Authority (GPA) and Alport’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) aims to create an efficient environment while continuing to expand and upgrade facilities to guarantee customer satisfaction and establishing the necessary infrastructure with the goal of turning Banjul Port into an international hub.
“The primary reason for going to concession is that it is very difficult to expand the port infrastructure because GPA does not have the financial resources needed to do the capacity improvement in Banjul port.”
“We are up against competition, and if you want to remain relevant as a port, you have to look at the subregion.” Every port in the region, from Mauritania to Angola, is peppered with private investment, if you look at the terrain.
Alhagie Mbaye, the Gambia Revenue Authority’s (GRA) Commissioner for Customs, emphasised the importance of the convergence and asserted that the change will improve port efficiency.
This concession does not result in job loss, so let’s accept it and ensure that all parties involved are on the same page. We are in competition, whether we realise it or not.
