Gambia ferry-crossing crisis aggravates

As Nuimi residents seek Allah’s help  

Elders praying for Allah's help to resolve the ferry crisis

The people of Niumi, specifically in Essau village, are now seeking spiritual help from Allah to resolve the seemingly insolvable problems at the Banjul-Barra ferry crossing point. 

At most gathering of the elders – be it religious or social – the elders now pray for Allah’s help as though all human efforts have been employed but solution could not be found to the perennial problems.

On Saturday during the one-year charity of the late Alhaji Kebba Marong, who was the muezzin of one of the mosques in Essau, shortly after recitation of Quran for the deceased, one of the village elders said:  “Let us do another ‘duwa’, supplication, so that Allah can help in bringing normalcy and safety at the crossing point, Banjul-Barra, because the situation there is not very good.”

Without hesitation, the elders stretched their hands to God seeking His intervention in the ferry services.

“Please let us add more, I almost cross every week to Banjul.  I came from Banjul just yesterday (Saturday), the ferry departed Banjul around 2pm and we only arrived after 5pm,” one of the elders lamented.

The current state of the ferry services at the Banjul-Barra crossing point is getting from bad to worse as the ferries that usually ply the distance for 30 to 45 minutes now spend two to three hours or more.

Often times now, the ferries even get breakdown in the river and could be there for hours without reaching the other bank of the river. 

It is understood that the engines of all the three ferries are not in good state.

The state of ferry crossing is becoming more and more terrible by the day as the conditions of the ferries, if anything, is deteriorating rapidly.

At the crossing point in Barra terminal on Sunday, Maram Jobe said they spent four hours at the said terminal before the arrival of the Kanilai Ferry from Banjul.

According to Modou Jallow, a commuter, he arrived at the terminal at 6:00pm and could not get a ferry up to 8:00pm when he boarded the Kanilai Ferry.

The time waiting for the ferry is different from other hours that it takes for the ferry to ply from Banjul to Barra.

Passengers resort to risky transport boats

Many people have now resorted to crossing by boat due to the continuous failing and deteriorating ferry services.

In the same vein, boat operators have also irrationally increased the fare from D15 to D25.

Also, people who carry passengers in and out of the boat have also increased the cost of carrying each passenger from D5 to D10.

Now the entire cost of crossing by boat which used to be D25 (D15 for boat fare, D5 to the porter carrying a passenger to the boat, and another D5 to the one taking the passenger out) is now D45 (that is, D25 for boat fare, D10 to the one carrying the passenger to the boat and another D10 to the one out).