By Buba Gagigo
Yankuba Dibba, the CEO of OIC Gambia, has announced a collaborative arrangement with Senegal to address the parking constraints at Gambia’s airport. The agreement allows for the use of Yoff Airport in Senegal as an auxiliary parking space, particularly for state aircraft requiring extended parking.
“The only issue we have is the parking of aircraft. Our airport cannot handle more than 15 aircraft at any given time, in addition to the normal scheduled flights. Therefore, under our cooperation with Senegal, Senegal has been able to graciously permit us to use Yoff airport as a parking lot for those heads of state who might want to stay longer, but otherwise the Gambia has enough space, you know, to handle all the aircraft coming,” he said.
Mr. Dibba emphasized that there is ample accommodation for all attendees of the upcoming summit. Despite having more space than needed, he stressed the importance of understanding that the accommodations are more than sufficient.
“Currently we even have a problem. We can’t utilize all the space we have. So I want this to be very, very, very clear that we have adequate space here,” she said.
He also shared that the inaugural flight for the summit, a 350-seat aircraft from Saudi Arabia carrying over 300 delegates, including the OIC Secretary General, arrived at Banjul International Airport on Monday, April 29th.
“I’m pleased to announce that the first arrival of aircrafts is today from Saudi is a 350-seater plane, which is bringing in over 300 delegates today this evening. And then, the Secretary General of the OIC is actually on that plane coming,” he announced.
Regarding transportation, Mr. Dibba assured that there are over 400 vehicles ready at the GCCI trade fair center, including 100 new SUVs and Mercedes Benz purchased by the Gambian government, and another 100 vehicles donated by a supportive nation. Additionally, the government has allocated nearly 100 million for renting extra vehicles, ensuring a fleet that includes baggage trucks, pickup trucks, and ambulances.
“I want to tell you currently, we have well over 400 vehicles parked at the GCCI trade fair center. Gambia government has bought 100 brand new SUVs and Mercedes Benz that’s enough to cater for all our heads of states. In addition, a friendly country has also given us 100 vehicles. They are all packed at the GCCI. Thirdly, the Gambia Government has given us over almost 100 million to rent vehicles, so we have an additional 100 vehicles, including baggage trucks, pickup trucks, ambulances, they’re all at a GCCI,” he said.
Furthermore, Mr. Dibba clarified that the summit’s funding is entirely domestic, with the Gambian government being the sole financier. He dismissed rumors about inadequate guest accommodations, asserting that the country has ample bed space to host a large number of guests, negating the need for a five-star hotel.
“Because the Gambia government is the host, not a single butut is coming from outside to fund this summit. This summit is 100% funded by the government of the Gambia, and I want this to go on record. Currently, the Gambia government has within this year given us well over 400 million to be able to organize this summit. In terms of accommodation, there has been rumors that some of our guests are going to stay out of this country. I think that’s not only fallacious, but it’s laughable. We already have more base space than we can even utilize. Even if we were to receive 5000 guests in this country, we can comfortably house even without the five-star hotel,” the CEO said.