By Lamin Njie
Ministry of Transport
Honorable Ebrima Sillah, Minister for Transport, Works and Infrastructure, has clarified that revenues collected from the newly built Basse and Farafenni toll booths at the two bridges, will be used for maintenance of the bridges in case of any future damage, he said.
Honorable Sillah said this during a meeting held in Kolibantang in the Central River Region of the country on the first leg of the just concluded meet the people tour of President Adama Barrow.
“These payments are necessary in case of any problem or damage at the two bridges and nothing else. We all know that even if a small hole occurred in these bridges, it needs to be repaired as soon as possible and the government doesn’t have standby funds for this. So we need to prepare and keep some funds in case of anything, Minister Sillah buttressed.
According to him, the government cannot go to the donors and ask for money to maintain the bridges, thus the need for these toll booths at Basse and Farafenni to generate the necessary funds for the upkeep of the bridges.
The transport, Works and Infrastructure Minister further stated that from now onwards, any bridge built by the government will have such a system in place.
The Honorable Minister concluded by informing the people of the area that the government will soon start the construction of some major roads in the region come March 2023.
