Suntou,
 
I know you;re talking about serious issues but I find you hilariously  funny. 
You have a way of narrating that just makes you smile, even in agony and  
pain. No wonder you're surviving your ordeal in Gambia. You inspire me. I hope I  
can survive it as well as you are doing.
 
I do want to share with you that there is nothing wrong with the road  
designs the various contractors present to Yahya. In fact, on paper, (Houston,  
Texas, was a paper city from its beginnings), they may have more bells and  
whistles than I would even consider adding. But they even make their proposals  in 
colour now. I was informed Yahya prefers colour in proposals. The problem is  
lifting the design from the Milars and placing them on the road. For example: 
If  it will actually cost 1 million Dalasis to build a road out of a certain 
batch  of bitumen that will last for 20 years, the contractor will present that 
batch  characteristics on paper in his/her proposal. And because the 
contractor knows  he/she is speaking Azerbaijani to the people at works or Yahya, and 
because the  funds for the project are from OPEC, The Netherlands, or EU, the 
contractor has  no remorse in paying the listener D200,000.00 to get the 
contract and then using  a more inferior batch of bitumen that will cost D300,000.00 
And when the road  starts separating at the seams of the grades and within 
the grade, the first  thing they blame it on is the heat and the rains. Yahya 
will not require them to  repair the damage at no cost. In fact, in Gambia, 
there is not the technical  expertise or the patriotism to inspect the work of 
these contractors and make  payment contingent on passing an Acceptance 
Inspection. I think the EU has  learned a lot from these practices that is why they 
concentrate more on feeder  roads that actually serve a community purpose and 
whose quality they can  ascertain. They cost less of course but if we can have 10 
good feeder roads in  the rural areas for any half-baked road, I say go to 
it. Maybe that will spur an  Urban-Rural Migration because I hear Gambians like 
shiny things.
 
Take care Bro and I wish you happy sojourn. I hear you're going back to UK  
next month. Take care. Masoud. MQDT. Haroun. Al Khairawan. Darbo. Mud and grass 
 reinforced with bamboo re-bars could be our best hope for roads. 
Hehehehehehee!  You think you've seen dust. You ain't seen nothing yet.
In a message dated 11/14/2007 7:54:20 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

you are  right jambarr.ebou town is equally bad ,i couldn't even find the old 
foroyaa  office .the road round that end is just nowhere.but from westfield 
to bambo  (senegambia garage) to bakoteh tipa garage .from tipa garage to 
sukuta  sanchaba and sukuta sabige .pass through bakoteh is all hell holes.my cough 
is  getting worse .the dust,heat and the cars swinging at pedestrian is all a 
bad  cocktail.now i travel by foot up to westfield and then i board the 
banjul  vans.come see the bluffs of the early morning van drivers.they choose where 
to  pick up passengers. people keep on saying BANJUL APARANTEH ,BANJUL 
,BANJUL  .may be after ten banjuls one van will stop .but then in midday ,the van  
drivers now start calling banjul banjul.even in some parts of banjul the roads  
are bad.

on the talinding high ways ,the annoying  traffic lights.the bad 
drivers.drivers turning every where.vans stopping  without warning .men ,the gambia needs 
mental food .i show deyda halake at the  air port bound for uk last week.

the budung road is  also deteriorating fast .the ebrima ceesay inaugurated 
road not the babun  fatty area .the babun fatty arena area is also bad.we need 
masoud and his  talent to design sustainable roads.our people are suffering 
whilst you out  there are enjoying .from yero,bambalaye,yanks.men we need you 
folks.the  internet cost D15 per hour .and you have to look over your shoulder 
incase any  FABURAMA is looking .bye.

JAMBARR <[log in to unmask]>  wrote:
Suntu
Many people are concerned about Ibo town but the  westfield - sukuta road is 
the worst in the Gambia,
I doubt very much if  president Jammeh have travelled that road and see how 
it is. A distance that  used to take 15-20 minutes is now taking almost an hour 
to  drive.







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