Mankamang Kunda police station saga: Ports claims procedures were followed

The Gambia Ports Authority has claimed it has followed all due procedures in the financing of the building of a police station in Mankamang Kunda.

The Authority said in a press release on Sunday that the request for the building of the station came from the Gambia Police Force and all tendering processes were followed.

Below is the statement:

“The GPA Management has monitored online publications purporting that the institution is sponsoring the construction of a police station at Mankamang Kunda and wish to posit as follows.

The IGP had sent a request to the GPA for the financing of the construction of 3 police stations in URR, namely, Bakadaji, Mankamang Kunda and Fatoto, which the Authority had considered under its CSR along the lines of similar interventions in the health, education, agriculture, sports and other sectors.

The design, tender and supervision was contracted to GAMWORKS under a Delegated Management Contract (DMC) and the construction works were awarded to the 3 most responsive local firms that submitted bids.

Notwithstanding, the appropriate governance procedures were followed at the level of the Ministry of Finance and the GPA Board of Directors and decision was obtained for the relevant payments to be offset against the liability that the GPA owes to Government, which is normally settled in bi-annual installments.

The request for the financing of these projects did not ensue from directives issued by the Office of the President.

It is hoped that the above will serve to shed light on the handling of the URR police stations project.

Signed:

Ousman M Jobarteh

Managing Director”