Gambia: Barrow Commissions D1.2b Kiang West Road

Gambia: Barrow Commissions D1.2b Kiang West Road

What many once dismissed as political rhetoric has now become reality. On Saturday, President Adama Barrow inaugurated the 91-kilometre Kiang West highway--the first-ever asphalt-basalt road constructed in the area.

Political Defections and the Politics of Development in Kiang West

The recent defection of 147 United Democratic Party (UDP) supporters to the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) in Kiang West highlights a familiar and important feature of Gambian politics: the close relationship between development projects and political alignment. On the surface, the timing of the switch—coinciding with the inauguration of the D1.2 billion Kiang West Roads Project—suggests that visible infrastructure development can have imm…

Barrow commissions D1.2B Kiang West Road

The inauguration ceremony in Jiffarong was charged with emotion. Hundreds lined the route, waving as the presidential convoy passed, echoing the collective relief of a community finally brought into the fold of national progress. Officials from the National Roads Authority described the project as built to “standard,” assuring that the highway is expected to last decades. Beyond its asphalt and gravel, the road promises transformation: easier ac…

BARROW COMMISSIONS D1.2 BILLION KIANG WEST ROADS, HITS BACK AT CRITICS – The Standard Newspaper

By Omar Bah President Adama Barrow on Saturday officially opened the D1.2 billion Kiang West Roads Project, commissioning 87 kilometres of new trunk and community roads at a packed ceremony in Jafarong, Lower River Region.  The project, delivered in two phases and fully financed by the Government of The Gambia, is framed as a direct strike against rural isolation and a rebuke to critics who said it would never be finished.  “They said it was onl…