By Lamin Njie
The national secretariat of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Tuesday briefed the media on its about-to-commence road expansion project.
The Gambia will next year host a summit of the OIC, a platform for Muslim countries in the world. It will be the seventh time an African country is hosting the high-profile event.
The national secretariat is the body entrusted with the responsibility of putting all necessary structures in place ahead of the summit.
At the press conference on Tuesday, Banding Sillah, the acting chief executive officer, said the meeting was to sensitize members of the media about their ‘intending’ road expansion project.
He said: “The press conference is aimed at sensitizing the media about the intending road expansion project from Sting Corner to Airport Junction via the Traffic Lights. The multi-sectoral road reserve committee has been engaged in feasibility work to facilitate the execution of the project, and some impediments have been encountered along the way.
“These include encroachments along the highway which are in contravention of the 40-metre buffer on the highway and other issues affecting the timely execution of the project. A stop-work notice has been issued to all active construction sites along the road corridor between Sting Corner and Airport Junction.
“To this effect, the public is notified a notice will be issued by the department of physical planning and housing to all occupants within the 40-metre reserve along the 22-kilometre stretch of the road. All those serve with notice should contact the department of physical planning and bring along any relevant document within 14 days.”
According to Sillah, the road reserve committee has noticed the presence of commercial billboards along the stretch.
“The owners will be duly notified for the de-commissioning and relocation of the billboards. Used car dealers displaying their cars within the 40-metre buffer of the highway will also be impacted by the work expansion of the highway,” he said.
