Africa-Press – Gambia. Bakary Y. Badjie, The Gambia’s Minister of Youth and Sports, told lawmakers on Wednesday that rehabilitation work at the Independence Stadium is now expected to be completed by the end of March—just ahead of the country’s next international football fixture. But he cautioned that the timeline remains heavily dependent on timely funding and coordination with the Ministry of Works.
“End of March is the course,” Mr. Badjie said, noting that resurfacing of the running track is among the key tasks scheduled for completion during that period. “Hopefully the end of March will be the completion time before our next international game.”
The minister said persistent delays in government payments to contractors have slowed progress on site, pushing back deadlines despite what he described as careful planning.
“But the current work is expected to be completed by the end of March based on what is on paper,” he told the National Assembly. “Hopefully we will be able to get the funds on time, because, like I reported here, last time even the current payment that should have been done in October is still not done, and we are already in December.”
Failure to release funds, he added, leaves contractors unable to continue work. “If we don’t pay the contractor, they don’t work. Those are the issues.”
Mr. Badjie said he has grown increasingly cautious about offering precise dates, citing factors that fall outside his ministry’s control, including procurement and approval processes at the Ministry of Works and the schedule of financial disbursements.
“Honorable Speaker, I actually stopped giving specific dates because they keep quoting me based on the dates I give, and I give dates based on two reasons: one is what the Ministry of Works, who are the workers, gives us as a timeline. Secondly, based on financial reasons, these two things are key in the stadium work, so sometimes when I say this month and then there is a delay in the disbursement of funds, which is not controlled by us,” he said.
The stadium, closed to international competition following a CAF inspection, has undergone a protracted refurbishment process marked by funding gaps and shifting deadlines. The minister’s latest projection places renewed pressure on the government to ensure financial commitments are met in the coming months.
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