{"id":92210,"date":"2025-12-17T16:48:33","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T16:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government"},"modified":"2025-12-17T18:07:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T18:07:03","slug":"minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government","title":{"rendered":"Minister Defends Sale of Mile 2 Prison and Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>The Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has defended the government\u2019s decision to sell Mile 2 Central Prison to the Gambia Ports Authority (GPA), arguing that the move is a strategic effort to finance the construction of a new correctional facility while supporting the expansion of the Banjul Port.<\/b><\/p>\n

In an interview with West Coast Radio, Dr. Ceesay said the arrangement should be viewed as an innovative approach to mobilizing resources, not as a sale to a private entity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we should even commend the government for having the foresight and the vision and the wisdom to be innovative in raising the funds to build a new correctional facility,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The minister emphasized that both institutions involved in the transaction are state-owned, rejecting characterizations of the deal as a privatization of public assets. \u201cIt is a takeover because, remember, Gambia Ports Authority is a government institution, and Mile 2 is a government institution under the Ministry of Interior,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ceesay added that the decision was informed by a broad consensus that Mile 2 Central Prison no longer meets acceptable standards for inmate accommodation.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody, there is a consensus across the board that the Mile 2 prison is not fit for purpose anymore, and it is not fit for human habitation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to the minister, the government has already secured land in Nyambikala, in the West Coast Region, where a new prison complex is planned in line with international standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government is planning, and land has been allocated in Nyambikala in the West Coast region, to build a new correctional facility, which is in line with international standards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also linked the transfer of the prison site to the ongoing expansion of the Banjul Port, noting that the project requires additional space to handle container traffic effectively. \u201cWe need more space for containers so that the expansion can be successful, and there is space where the Mile 2 prison is,\u201d he said. Adding that \u201cthe ports authority has brought in some financing to start the prison facility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding to public criticism of the decision, Dr. Ceesay said he saw no cause for concern, reiterating that the transaction involves only public institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I don\u2019t see anything wrong with that; I don\u2019t know why people are crying about that. The Gambia Ports Authority is not a private entity; it is a government entity,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a public institution taking over another public institution and putting forward the finances to build a new correctional facility. I think it is kudos to the government for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. The Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has defended the government\u2019s decision to sell Mile 2 Central Prison to the Gambia Ports Authority (GPA), arguing that the move is a strategic effort to finance the construction of a new correctional facility while supporting the expansion of the Banjul […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":92209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-92210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nMinister Defends Sale of Mile 2 Prison and Government - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has defended the government\u2019s deci ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minister Defends Sale of Mile 2 Prison and Government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has defended the government\u2019s deci ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-17T16:48:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-17T18:07:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765982084.082293.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Minister Defends Sale of Mile 2 Prison and Government\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-17T16:48:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-17T18:07:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government\"},\"wordCount\":455,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765982084.082293.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government\",\"name\":\"Minister Defends Sale of Mile 2 Prison and Government - Gambia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765982084.082293.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-17T16:48:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-17T18:07:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has defended the government\u2019s deci ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765982084.082293.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765982084.082293.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Minister Defends Sale of Mile 2 Prison and Government\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Minister Defends Sale of Mile 2 Prison and Government\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\",\"name\":\"Gambia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Minister Defends Sale of Mile 2 Prison and Government - Gambia","description":"The Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has defended the government\u2019s deci ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Minister Defends Sale of Mile 2 Prison and Government","og_description":"The Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has defended the government\u2019s deci ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government","og_site_name":"Gambia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-12-17T16:48:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-17T18:07:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765982084.082293.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Minister Defends Sale of Mile 2 Prison and Government","datePublished":"2025-12-17T16:48:33+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-17T18:07:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government"},"wordCount":455,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765982084.082293.jpg","keywords":["Gambia"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government","name":"Minister Defends Sale of Mile 2 Prison and Government - Gambia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765982084.082293.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-17T16:48:33+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-17T18:07:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has defended the government\u2019s deci ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765982084.082293.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765982084.082293.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"Minister Defends Sale of Mile 2 Prison and Government"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/minister-defends-sale-of-mile-2-prison-and-government#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Minister Defends Sale of Mile 2 Prison and Government"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/","name":"Gambia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}