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City of Banjul
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
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Sanyang Port project to affect 461 settlements, properties

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By Tabora Bojang

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About 461 properties and settlements have been mapped to be affected by the government’s ports expansion project in Sanyang.

The proposal to extend the port has prompted a lot of debate around transparency, cost and its impact on hundreds of homes in Banjul and Sanyang where a new port is to be built.

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The GPA managing director Ousman Jobarteh told lawmakers yesterday that the expansion in Sanyang will consist of an area identified for the port’s infrastructure that is to be managed by the concessionaire Albayrak, while the government will maintain the special economic zone and a free zone.

“There is an area that is identified for the port’s expansion but beyond the perimeter of the ports up to the highway is earmarked by government for future development and the process is going to be compensation and acquisition. It has to follow due procedure,” he said.

However, according MD Jobarteh, the land area earmarked for the port expansion in Sanyang is not as extensive as people envisaged. “We have done the mapping and about 461 properties and settlements have been identified to be within the port area. The next step is to do the valuation. After the valuation we will now engage the community,” he explained. 

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He hinted that there were some miscommunication issues between the Sanyang village development committee and the consultant for the project but added that the GPA had intervened and that discussions are now going smoothly.

On compensation of persons whose properties would be affected by the expansion, Jobarteh said government’s objective is to go for restoration.

“For example, where, particularly women, fisherfolks and other vulnerable groups are involved in activity, our objective is to restore that activity and ensure we have an area for them where they will continue getting their earnings,” he said.

He said young Gambians whose hospitality businesses are to be affected around beach fronts will also be supported to restore their activities elsewhere .. “These are individual choices. If the affected persons decide to go for compensation and acquisition, that is their choice but our objective is that when we find somebody in an activity, we want to restore that activity so that there will be continuous earning,” he said.

According to him, the concessionaire also has an obligation to do an environmental and social impact assessment which will be done after an agreement is released on the layout of the area. 

MD Jobarteh further explained that the special economic zone and the free zone are out of the concession scope because government wants to maintain them for local content and also open another business.

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