By Isatou Jawara
The Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia, His Execellency Badara .A. Joof, recently revealed that the government is currently in a preparatory phase for a 40 million US Dollars West Africa Coastal Area (WACA) project with the World Bank.
Vice President Joof recently made the revelation during the questions and answers session of the Third Ordinary Session of the National Assembly 2022 legislative year at the National Assembly Complex in Banjul.
He noted that the WACA project will construct a comprehensive drainage system along the Kotu stream from Abuko to minimize flooding in the Kanifing Municipality Area (KM) and some parts of West Coast Region.
The WACA will be implemented by the Ministry of Environment Climate Change and Natural Resources in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA).
VP Joof, added that the resilience investment project negotiations will take place in December this year and the project will be effective in January 2023.
According to VP Joof, the project will focus on the Greater Banjul Area, “but that does not mean that the office of the Vice President will neglect or oversight others’’, he noted.
He said discussion are on going with other development partners in trying to find a permanent solution to other areas with perennial flooding problems.
He further highlighted that the government can confirm that there are two feasibility studies; one study for the Banjul drainage and sewage system 2015 and the Stormwater and sewage in the Greater Banjul Area 2014. Both studies have been submitted to the Ministry of Finance and are awaiting funding.
He added that the main issue with drainage-related problems in Banjul is the presence of solid waste that caused cloaked drains and outfalls.
“To prevent this cloaking, he added waste needs to be removed from the drains frequently. To resolve the present situation, implementation of emergency measures is required ’’.
He mentioned that to resolve the problem, extending concrete drains into the area and building a ring channel for conveyance towards Bond Road is required . He noted it is recommended that the pumping house structure be demolished and replaced with a much smaller one.
Given the timeline of 2014 and 2015, Mr. Joof said he believes that the consultation must have been extensive. Notwithstanding, he said during a retreat two weeks ago, they had to revisit this as an interval of 5 to 6 years needed some updates.
“In that update, we will be doing extensive and intensive consultation not only with the stakeholders but also with the indigenes that know the geographical location of this area,’’ VP Joof asserted.
