A project rolled out by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment ( MoTIE) has got the Promendade Road at Kotu rehabilitated and furnished for a smooth and hassle-free transportation of people, goods and services.
Sponsored by the Japanese government, the length of the road project was 1.2KM, and it is meant to give a massive boost to the tourism sector of The Gambia, given that Kotu is located at the heartbeat of the tourism sector.
The work area covered by the 125 young Gambia men and women who took part in the project, stemmed from Palma Lima to Kotu, a centre for many different tourist-related activities, ranging from bird watching, cycling and less-road-stressful access for tourist road users from Bertil Harding highway to hotels that dotted the landscape of the area.
The 125 young Gambians who took part in the training gained skills and knowledge on road rehabilitation, repaired the culvert on the Promenade so effectively that there is no risk for commuters of the convert falling apart.
The project also made gender parity as part of the uppermost priorities, hiring at least 50 percent men and women. Out of them, 24 percent were returnees and 10 workers were people of hearing difficulties.
The entrepreneurial skills unleashed by the trainers were tapped into, as they were trained on how to start up a business. Not to delay and defer the skills imparted into them, to translate them into enterprise, commerce, industry, and monetise it, the team that constructed Promendade Road established and registered a business called Community Road Development and Maintenance (CoDEM).
As a mark of the fast progress they have made, from being trained to now running their own business on what they were trained on, they now solicit contracts from government, public, private and donor agencies to set in practice the skills and experience gained from their training.
With a contract, and their skills to boot, they are fully trained and tested to become job creators, not job seekers in the community, as they employ other young unemployed in their ranks. The benefits they will derive from this would create jobs, community development, inclusive growth, gender equality and sustainable peace.
