As part of their ongoing inspection tour of ongoing road projects across the country, the National Roads Authority (NRA) together with the Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure (MOTWI) on Monday visited the ongoing Lot 2 Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) road projects in the Central River Region (CRR).

The Lot 2 road project is 50km long and is contracted to Cornerstone Construction, a Gambian-owned company, and CityScape Associates is the Consultant.

The 50km EPC road project is divided into three sections as

• Section 1- Karantaba – Reneru – Tabanani – Demfaye – Njaga-Fitu Fulla is 26km long.

• Section 2- Njau Loop, 12 km; and

• Section 3- Laminkoto – Banni – Youna and Kunting is 12 km.

The works consist of the construction of earthwork, flexible pavements, double bituminous surfacing, construction of drainage structures, bus stops, road furniture, and environmental and health safety management.

The progress of work is estimated at approximately 31%.

Overall, though, the projects are progressing well, with good community liaisons and engagement.

Speaking after the site visit in Lot 2, Sulayman Sumareh Janneh, Deputy Managing Director said NRA aims to assess the quality of roads in the ongoing projects, adding that NRA will ensure that any roadbed that is been prepared meets the basics standards of structural integrity to ensure that when the road is build will have the basic longevity that is required

“NRA is constantly reviewing the standards of ongoing road construction processes to ensure that the contractors and consultants do meet our basic standards. To avoid not meeting the specified standards on the roadbed, NRA now has a team of professionals on the ground who will ensure that both the contractors and consultants will abide by the basics that are in the design documents,” he said.

According to him, from a continuous standpoint, not only do the NRA test and assess the road quality at the time of construction, but even after construction, NRA teams will be going out inspecting and assuring that the roads are maintained properly.

Ebrima Sillah, Minister of Transport, Works and Infrastructure, expressed delight at the level of progress in the ongoing road construction in Lot 2, adding that they are very happy with the kind of work they are seeing in the ongoing construction at Lot 2.

“The objective of the visits is to gather first-hand information and assess the progress of construction works thus far. It also provides an opportunity for intervention to mitigate any challenges that both contractors and communities may be faced with,” he said.

According to him, the government of the Gambia is engaging the World Bank to fund 150km of roads in the rural areas, adding that they have identified the 150km of roads across the country.

“100km will be in the rural areas and 50km will be in the urban areas. As part of efforts to bank the road projects, we have decided that we are going to do 570km of roads to be surveyed across by the World Bank support.”

Jonas Agyemang, Project Manager for the Contractor Cornerstone, said they are actively working on section 1- Karantaba-Reneru-Tabanani-Demfaye Njaga-litu Fulla (26km) and section 3- Laminkoto-Banni-Youna-Kunting (12km) roads this month in October 2024.

He added that the activities on section 3 road are clearing and grubbing, roadbed preparation, subgrade, and subbase layer, adding that while in section 2- Njau Loop, they have finished the earthworks and site clearing as well as the roadbed preparation.

“We have currently achieved 95% on the subgrade and subbase and 91% on the base layer. We completed the drainage structures of both the culverts and Irish crossings.”