President Adama Barrow has expressed dismay coronavirus prevented his Nuimi event from being a massive ceremony.
The president is currently laying the foundation stone for the construction of the Hakalang road in Nuimi, a project he says is long overdue.
The president however while expressing joy the project finally got to commencing rued the fact that the flagging event wasn’t big enough.
He said: “As I stand here today, I’m very happy but there’s one thing that saddens me: that is we’re in coronavirus. But if we were not in coronavirus today, we would have passed the night here. Anything that’s culture would all have been brought here.
“We would bring masquerade, we would bring kumpos, we would bring koras, we would have done everything here. It’s worth it. Since before we were not born up till we were born, we have been hearing about Hakalang road. There’s no name in this country that matches Hakalang.
“So the people of Nuimi, be aware that it’s not just you who are happy, it the entire Gambia that’s happy. When we signed the Hakalang road [project] to now, the amount of people that calls me from abroad or within The Gambia praying for me, expressing joy just because of this Hakalang [project]. I was even surprised in the end.
“Roads have long been constructed in the country but why is it that everybody was focused on Hakalang road? That’s why I told them I was ready to go to any length. I had once summoned the minister of finance and the minister of works to my office and asked them to ensure what the Hakalang road means to me meant the same exact way for them. I even jokingly told the finance minister I was even prepared to rob a bank and go and build the Hakalang road.”
