By Edward Francis Dalliah
Hours after the unexpected incident that struck the Kanilai Ferry on Friday the 12th of April 2024, the Management of the Gambia Ferry Service (GFS) issued a press release announcing that “there will be no ferry service across the Banjul-Barra route until further notice”. President Adama Barrow was seen visiting the Ferry Terminal today 16th April 2024 as concerns mount on the poor state of ferry services.
The situation is under the radar of civil society organisations who are planning a protest to force the government into action to bring the service back on track. In the meanwhile, the declaration of the GFS has left hundreds of ferry passengers with no option but to cross the river Gambia using local canoes which come with their risks and different tariffs.
Canoes have been the traditional form of river transport but they are not as safe as a well-maintained ferry service. In the absence of the ferry crossing, passengers are now left with no option but to pay one hundred dalasi to secure a place in a boat with fewer people or pay fifty dalasi for a crowded canoe. In addition, each passenger has to pay twenty-five dalasi or above to be carried onboard with their luggage.
The ferry service normally costs around D35 per person and more for vehicles. Passengers are now having to pay at least D75 to cross without going into the water.
Speaking to a passenger he expressed his disappointment regarding the lack of a ferry pointing out that those managing the service have failed the people. He went further to highlight that “the amount of money some of them are paying to cross is double the price of the normal ferry ticket and the local boats are being overloaded”.
Over the past months, both the ferries Kanilai and Kunta Kinteh have undergone a series of maintenance due to their recurrent breakdowns but things seem not to be improving as the vicious cycle of dangerous breakdowns in the river continued unabated.
Just before the Friday incident, both ferries were out of service in February after developing technical problems and when restored, in mid-March another breakdown hit Kunta Kinteh during its journey to Barra with passengers, cars, and trucks on board and was aided by Kanilai.
The breakdowns have since brought ferry services to a halt. Currently, Kunta Kinteh is undergoing a series of repairs which will involve the installation of new engines, propulsion systems, shipyard materials, and resources that have an estimated cost of £1.2 million.
According to the GFS, the maintenance of Kunta Kinteh will take six weeks to complete but there is still no information on when Kanilai will be ready. This means that if Kanilai is not back in service this month, there will be no ferry until the end of the month.