It seems that the Kunta Kinteh Ferry, the only one currently plying between Banjul and Barra, has started developing some issues. Last Thursday, it was reported that there were some problems with it which led to it stopping operations for a few hours.
On Friday, the first ferry from Banjul to Barra arrived at a few minutes before three pm and that of course led to many commuters being stranded at both ends of the river. At the terminal in Barra, one could see hordes of passengers waiting for the arrival of the ferry.
It is safe to assume that there were similar numbers in Banjul as well. What this means is that thousands of people lost a lot of valuable time because they could not cross to the end they wanted to be. As a result of this, many people had to use local boats in order to reach their destination.
When one considers all this carefully, one will realise that the country is losing a lot of money whenever the ferry is at a standstill as time is money. When there is no ferry hundreds, if not thousands of people, lose a lot of time and that means that whatever they were going to do is delayed.
A few days ago the Gambia Ferry Service announced that they were working on a plan to make the ferry services twenty-four hours a day. One wonders how that will even work if all they have is one ferry as is the case currently. It was rumored that the Kanilai ferry will soon be up and running but that is yet to be seen.
Works going on near the Barra landing site are said to be part of the project to bring in new ferries for services by a Turkish Company but it seems way too slow for most observers. Perhaps when that company begins operations it will compel the Gambia Ferry Service to improve their operations so that the public will be pulled out of the suffering they go through anytime there is a delay in the ferry service.
It is hoped that the Turkish Company will expedite the work so that they can begin operations soonest.
