Feasibility studies for the Banjul-Barra Bridge in Gambia, are scheduled to begin in July according to Ebrima Sillah, the minister of transportation, works, and infrastructure. The minister also revealed that the project will be funded by ECOWAS  through ECOWAS Corridor Projects.

Hon. Sillah said, “As part of the ECOWAS corridor initiative, certain nations have around 1000 kilometres (1000km) between one end of their country and the other. Our Gambian borders are approximately forty kilometres (40km) long from one end to the other, according to our calculations.”

“Therefore, in order to have the bridge over Banjul-Barra serve as a crossing point and to incorporate Banjul-Barra in the ECOWAS corridor project, we must realign with ECOWAS. In fact, we decided at our most recent meeting in Banjul that engineers would be sent the following month (July) to do the preliminary feasibility studies,” he disclosed.

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Other projects to be carried out alongside the Banjul-Barra Bridge construction in Gambia

The honourable Sillah informed the legislature that during the conversation, they had also considered including a road from the border village of Amdallai that would travel through the Niumis, pass to Sitanunku, proceed to Bonto, where they would build a bridge over the river, and then go to Mandinaba.

He said, “The second loop for the Banjul-Barra Bridge will pass through Lamin, Mandinaring, and Brikama. The ECOWAS corridor project includes all of these, and they will all be dual carriageways. We decided that it would be preferable to use that high standard process to come in to cover this project than to use The Gambia national funds.”

Minister Sillah said that the government also intended to purchase two new ferries for Banjul-Barra in order to facilitate transit across the River Gambia. He did not, however, provide a precise arrival date for these ferries.