One of the many things that the Barrow administration will be remembered for generations after its exit is the incredibly quick pace at which it handed strategic national infrastructures to foreign investors in the name of private/public partnership.
The first casualty of this administration’s lust for floating strategic national assets for foreign investment is the Senegambia Bridge. The Barrow administration “secretly mortgaged” the bridge to Africa 50 at US$100 million. The “mortgage” only became public knowledge here in The Gambia when the story was published by a media outlet in Togo and amplified by a local media outlet.
Why did the Barrow administration decide to “mortgage” this key national infrastructure to Africa 50 and why didn’t it feel it necessary to take the issue to the National Assembly for scrutiny?
In fact, many Gambians are still interrogating the motivation for “mortgaging” the bridge when the country can generate millions from it on a monthly basis? Is there any economic sense in this move?
The hitherto vibrant and profit-making Banjul Port has also become another casualty of this administration’s insatiable desire to float Gambia’s key assets for foreign control. Since the Barrow administration ceded 80% of the port’s shares to Albayrak, ordinary Gambians are still being denied enlightenment about the whole deal. Why is the government keeping this port concession agreement so close to its chest? Is there anything to hide?
This dispensation has also been reportedly making giant strides in its plan to privatize a decent chunk of Gamtel and Gamcel when it should’ve been busy, turning every stone to restore the companies to their former glories.
These are not good moves. They are not wise moves. They have wide and far-reaching economic, security and social implications that we will talk about in our subsequent editorials.
