During his Meet The People Tour in Banjul, HE President Adama Barrow had mentioned that the central government pumped in over 90 percent of the funds used for the construction of the new Banjul City Council (BCC) head office complex. He said government should be given the invitation to inaugurate the office prior to its completion.
Responding to this statement, the Mayor of Banjul, Rohey Malick Lowe claimed that the construction was funded through the World Bank project and a counterpart contribution from BCC. These claims have recently raised suspicion in the minds of many citizens.
Meanwhile, a press release from the government’s Spokesperson revealed that the project is executed by the central government through the Ministry of Lands and Regional Government.
“Funded by the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) to the tune of US$13 million, the project is executed by the Central Government through the Ministry of Lands and Regional Government with The Gambia Agency for Management of Public Works (GamWorks) as implementing entity. This is a loan facility to The Gambia Government negotiated by the current Chief of Staff on 16th January, 2015 as Finance Permanent Secretary II. It attracts a 1.5 percent interest rate and a twenty-year maturity period.’’
The release further stated: “Without ambiguity, The Gambia Government makes it abundantly clear, that not a single dime came from the World Bank as erroneously claimed by Banjul Mayor, Rohey Malick Lowe during her recent Star FM Radio interview.’’
The release also revealed that The Gambia Government made a counterpart contribution of some US$555,000 (25 million Dalasis) in addition to servicing the US$13 Million on behalf all Councils; the totality of all the Councils’ contribution is barely 39.6 million Dalasis of which, 39.1 million Dalasis was disbursed. BCC was supposed to contribute some 8 million Dalasis but paid close to 7 million Dalasis. Whereas KMC has honoured its obligations under the arrangement, BCC still has an unpaid balance of 426,000 Dalasis owed to GamWorks
