By Tabora Bojang
There are growing concern among Gambians as to whether the Gambia Government will consider reopening the airport in June after reports that a top tour operator is selling tickets to Banjul from UK for June 23.
Gambians, who claimed that they have got emails about the ticket sales, strongly warned government never to open the airport to Coivd-19 hot spots like the UK.
“I think it will be a disaster if the airport is opened anytime soon. One of the reasons we have low count of Covid-19 in The Gambia is because the volume of traffic between us and hard-hit areas is low. The closure of the airport significantly cuts any further importation of the virus to the country. So,government should tell us whether they intend to open the airport which would be a terrible disaster,” one commentator in the UK wrote.
The Standard contacted Tourism Minister Hamat Bah, who is a member of the Cabinet emergency committee on Covid-19 pandemic.
He said: “The Gambia’s airport will remain closed and there is no time frame for re-opening, depending on the situation of the coronavirus pandemic in the country. Any plan to wind down coronavirus restrictions including reopening of the airport will hinge on the Covid-19 situational analysis and how it unfolds on the ground by the Ministry of Health before any action is taken. I cannot predict when the airport will re-open depending on how we perform on Covid-19 and what it would inflict on us. Let us pray to Allah that there will be no more Covid-19 cases in The Gambia; then we will be happy to open the airport but for now unless we get the advice from the Ministry of Health, I cannot comment on when the airport will reopen”.
