By Lamin Njie
The Office of the President on Tuesday said the Gambia government has walked out of plans for The Gambia to host the 2019 Organisation of Islamic Conference summit.
The Gambia government came under fire earlier this month after it emerged that the country will no longer go ahead to host the OIC summit. The high level summit which will now be hosted by Saudi Arabia is billed for November, 2019.
On Tuesday, State House announced in a statement that the government has decided to ‘defer the hosting of the 2019 Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit in The Gambia to the year 2022.’
“The decision followed a series of high-level consultations held with other African countries on the limited time available to have the needed infrastructure for the successful hosting of the 2019 OIC Summit,” the statement signed by President Barrow’s press secretary Amie Bojang Sissoho said.
It added: “The Government, in preparation for the summit, established the National O.I.C. Secretariat in February 2018 to oversee the successful organization and hosting of the Summit.
“The Secretariat has also been given the mandate to mobilize resources required to enable The Gambia to host the Summit successfully. Already, it has secured funding for the following projects, the implementation of which will start soon; ‘construction of a Dual Carriageway from Yundum via Bertil Harding Highway to the Sting Corner, construction of a 400-room, 5 Star Hotel and 60 Luxury Suites,cconstruction of VVIP Lounge at the Banjul International Airport, enhanced Water Production, Transmission and Distribution, [and] enhanced Power Transmission and Distribution Network.
“Given these huge tasks against the limited time factor, it became apparent that the country’s ability to host the summit this year seems distant. The Government thus, opted to seek the deferment of its hosting of the Summit to the year 2022, when the next OIC Summit is scheduled to take place.”
