Gov’t launched weighing station at Brikama-Kembujeh path
The Gambia government through the Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure on Tuesday launched a Weighing Station at Brikama-Kembujeh in the West Coast Region. A contract awarded to Afrique Pesage Gambia Limited.
The Station aimed to ensure road safety and avoid overloading, boost socio-economic development and promote smooth transportation of goods.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Transport, Works and Infrastructure, Madam Sainabou Humma, Principal Transport Policy Officer revealed that recent years studies have shown that the presence of overloaded vehicles on roads have increased state cost by more than 100 percent and therefore causing devastating effects on the lives of people in The Gambia.
“For that reason, the Ministry deems it fit to sign a consensus contract with Afrique Pesage Gambia Limited on the 30 August 2017 Axle Load Program in The Gambia,” she noted.
This project, she said, will prevent overload of vehicles, promote the safety of road users and minimize the damages of road infrastructure. Thus, she said the project is beneficial to the road infrastructure, vehicles owners and road users by minimizing road accidents that usually occur along the road.
Ms Humma said the government is optimistic that the project will be successful and achieve its desired outcomes in the near future. Whilst she urged all road users to support the efforts of the government in protecting road users and respect the rule of the weighing station.
Serigne Faye, General Administrator of Afrique Pesage Gambia Limited said all government efforts on massive road construction must not be thrashed by premature damage of the road infrastructure due to the absence of control of the traffic of heavy goods vehicles.
He said rapid damage of the road network would require incurring massive expenditure on road maintenance that could have been spent on other areas such as agriculture and education.
“Therefore, we must protect our roads through the Control of Axle Load,” he said.
He said Afrique Pesage Gambia is committed to supporting the Gambia by deploying its technology systems throughout the country to control and protect the road infrastructure that was built from massive investment.
Sulayman Sumareh, Managing Director of the National Road Authority (NRA) described the Weighing Station as a milestone achievement in ensuring the safety of road users along the roads.
MD said there is a greater need for the general public to take the Weighing Station seriously to ensure lives are protected, noting engineers can never bring back lives.
“We should respect the importance of having this infrastructure. If a driver causes death at the road he or she will only say sorry to the victim and saying sorry will never bring back a life,” he said, while commending the government for implementing such an important project.
Omar Ceesay, President of The Gambia Transport Union said overloading is dangerous to the vehicles, drivers and the road infrastructure. He added that the Weighing Station is very important in saving drivers, vehicles, commuters and the road network. He assured GTU commitment to work with the government to avoid overloading along roads.
Representing the Governor of WCR, Harouna Badjie, Regional Welfare Coordinator also described the launching of the Weighing Station as significant in saving lives along the road. He said the danger of overloading vehicles is not only on the road infrastructure but also risks human lives. He further reaffirmed the governor’s office commitment to work with Afrique Pesage Gambia Limited.
