The Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure on Wednesday evening issued a statement contending that statements made by UDP leader Ousainu Darboe during his press conference on Tuesday that the government sold the Port of Banjul to a Turkish company, Albayrak were “utterly misleading”.
The ministry stated that Darboe’s statements were “tastelessly false” and “deliberately crafted” to discredit a business opportunity set to transform port service delivery in The Gambia.
The statement reads: “For the avoidance of doubt, and contrary to Darboe’s misinformed claims during his press conference, the Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure and its partners involved in the port concession negotiation were guided by good faith, patriotism and love for the country. The process was aided and supported all through by an international transactional advisory firm with experience in delivering such mega projects in more than ten countries in Europe and Africa.
“In his clear low level of understanding of port operations, Darboe made a varied and demeaning characterisation of the present management of Gambia Ports Authority as men and women who are not up to the task compared to previous managers before them, surprisingly even those who served under a dictatorship that used and misused the resources of the ports to oppress and jail Mr Darboe.
The Port of Banjul was a small port during the late 1980s and real growth and expansion only happened in 1992. The population in The Gambia then was below 700,000 and the import figures up to the mid-’90s was less than 500,000 tonnes, commensurate with the population growth and consumption rate.
With the advent of the new government in 2016, volume grew more than expected to the level than the port started to experience acute congestion due to the growth in volumes. Record dividends have been paid by the current GPA management to government during this period, starting with D20 million in 2018 reaching D190 million by 2021.
“Some of the achievements registered during this new government include:
Severance of dockworkers employed under the 1963 Labour Ordinance and setting up of the private Stevedoring Dock Labour Company;
Salary increment and bonus payment to staff after more than 20 years;
Launching of the 4th Banjul Port Development Project;
Signing of the new Performance Contract with government since 1994;
Record payment of dividends to government;
Signing of a concession agreement with Albayrak in which government has no financial contribution, the fixed assets remain under government ownership yet hold 20% equity, will benefit from an improved infrastructure in Banjul and a new deep seaport in Sanyang.
“Contrary to the statement that the port is sold, all the fixed assets of the GPA remain under government ownership while the investor bears all the financing risks, and is allowed right to use the port with payment of certain percentage of the gross revenues to government.
“Other advantages of the concession, in which The Gambia and Guinea Bissau are the only ports within the sub-region to remain under public ownership and management include:
Government and GPA holding 20% equity in the SPV;
The investor investing US$19 million to improve efficiency in Banjul over six years;
This investment includes new equipment, expansion and upgrading of the container terminal and truck parking;
A new truck parking at Bund Road for a vehicle calling system;
Government and GPA receiving US$5 million as payments for all moveable assets in Banjul;
Government and GPA receiving 4% annually from the gross revenue in Banjul;
Percentage of the profits in Banjul set aside as reserve funds, earmarked for investment in Sanyang Deep Seaport;
All staff currently involved in the operations be maintained by Albayrak under their same terms and conditions of employment as existed under the GPA;
GPA having seat(s) at the board and management of the project company to be determined during the structuring of the shareholders’ agreement of the Sanyang Deep Seaport;
No financial contribution from Government and GPA as investor bears all financing risks;
Higher traffic forecast than the one initially proposed by Albayrak;
Drafting in the channel at Sanyang Port to be 12m while Albayrak proposed 10m;
Lower overall cost of doing business with the capacity increase;
Deeper draft vessels calling at Sanyang will attract lower freight rates;
Government and GPA receiving payments in the form of dividends as shareholders;
Government and GPA benefiting with the improved port infrastructure;
Basse and Kaur Inland Ports and logistics platforms will be developed as part of the project;
Local companies will be involved in the inland ports to be set up as separate joint ventures;
Local content provision of 1% of the total investment value to be paid to government;
Banjul Shipyard development forms part of the project investment scope.
“Therefore, from the above factsheet, it is clear that the port remains 100% the property of The Gambia government. What is concessioned out are management and operations. The harbour and mooring services still remain under the control of the government.
“The general public is therefore urged to ignore the misinformation that has been coming from the UDP camp since the successful launch of the port concession. They are meant to get good Gambians engaged in fishing expeditions and mindless banter in the social media thinking that will discredit the government and actors behind the concession project. That has woefully failed flat on the face of the perpetrators,” the ministry’s statement concluded.
