By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
Following more than a two-year delay after the contractor, Hatib N. Darboe of Top Spot Properties, failed to finish work at the Janjabureh football field, to the dissatisfaction of the Ministry of Youth & Sports and the community, the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports, Bakary Y. Badjie has reassured the community of his unwavering resolve to get the project completed and handover to the community, although with a different contractor.
Honourable Badjie and his permanent Secretary, Ndey Marie Njie, expressed their disappointment and dissatisfaction with the contractor who has failed to deliver the good despite the ministry paying over 80% of the money to him.
The field, which was expected to be completed within six months beginning in January 2021, has exceeded the timeline ever since. On a tour to see the progress of works under his ministry, Badjie assured the youths on the ground that it is his ministry’s priority to give them a playable football pitch and that he will make sure work that should be done is done and completed.
“We want to make sure that we do our best to ensure that this contract moves ahead with another as soon as possible so that you can use your field,” the minister assured the youth of the community, who are eager to start using their only community-owned football field.
The minister further told the youths of the village that the ministry never anticipated the project to last this long when it was supposed to last for only six months. He apologized to the community for the delay in the project on the side of the contractor.
“I want to apologize to the community. This is not our wish. When we laid the foundation, it was never our wish. The government and the president’s intention are to bring this kind of development in the rural communities.”
According to Lamin Ceesay, a youth leader in the community of Janjangbureh, anytime they approach the contractor on the ground to ask about the delay, the contractor would tell them that the ministry didn’t pay him based on the agreed amount in the contract.
“We have already paid him money. Money is not the issue here. He was paid and according to the contract, we have fulfilled our part, and he is expected to fulfil his part,” Ndey Marie Njie, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, said.
The permanent secretary outlined that the ministry is not happy because the ministry’s expectations regarding the project are not met, and the ministry may take legal steps against Hatib N. Darboe of Top Spot Properties, the contractor for the job which was expected to be completed within six months.
“We are not happy. Our expectations are not met. We are equally angry, that is why are going around to see. Some of them (contractors), we have already started taking legal action against them. This one could be part of them,” the PS told the community of Janjangbureh.
At the field, the dressing room and fencing are near completion. However, the pitch condition is not in good shape. Part of the contract is to grass the pitch. Both the ministry and the community lost hope in the contractor who has failed to deliver the goods.
The minister and his delegation were greeted by youths of Janjangbureh who are in desperate need to start using their football pitch for their annual rainy football competition, locally called Nawettan.
They called on the minister to help them complete the project so that second-division teams in the region can play their home matches in the region rather than playing in the Jarra Soma mini-stadium.
