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 President Yahya Jammeh on Saturday
officially commissioned the modern
and magnificent Gam-Petroleum
storage facility in Mandinary
village, Kombo North, Western
Region. The
US$50 million storage facility, the
first of its kind in The Gambia, is
in fulfillment of government's
desire to relocate the storage
facility at the Half-Die in Banjul
for safety and environmental
reasons, as well as to increase the
national capacity for the bulk
storage of various types of gas and
petroleum products. The facility is
apparently the single largest in the
whole of the sub-region. Nigeria has
more facilities of this kind, but
none is as big as this one.
With 17 fuel
tanks, the facility has a storage
capacity of 51,000 Metric tones of
heavy and light fuel oil as well as
gas and will afford the Gambia the
opportunity of being able to store
at any given time the equivalent of
6 months of the country's fuel and
gas consumption requirement from the
current storage capacity of less
than a month's equivalent. The
terminal would also serve as a
bunkering hub and refilling station
for vessels en route to South
America and South Africa.
Officially
inaugurating the facility, President
Jammeh said the importance of
building such a facility to the
socio-economic development of The
Gambia cannot be over-emphasised. He
said, through bulk storage, The
Gambia can reduce its dependency on
the goodwill of neighbouring
countries for the supply of
petroleum products noting that for a
small country like The Gambia, this
is an important safety cushion
against the vagaries of a world
market that is characterised by
rising oil prices.
The Gambian
leader stated that by being able to
have in stock such a large quantity,
this depot would greatly enhance the
country's ability to stabilise the
price of fuel in The Gambia within
acceptable limits. "Price stability
is a measure of macro-economic
well-being and a signal for
businesses and investments. As such,
the facility has an added advantage
of boosting our ability to attract
new businesses thus, creating more
employment opportunities for
Gambians" he said.
According to
the President, every sector of The
Gambian economy including
agriculture, health and natural
resources exploitation is expected
to indirectly benefit from this
facility. "The facility would also
directly benefit the country's
electricity sector including the
planned expansions since heavy fuel
would be the prime feed of the power
plants. It is also anticipated that
the disruptions in electricity
services due to lack of heavy fuel
can be considered a thing of the
past for Gambians" he stated.
President
Jammeh then expressed hope that the
facility would further sharpen The
Gambia's advantage of becoming the
regional hub for commerce, trade and
related services as well as make the
Gambia become the sub-regional hub
that would enable countries in the
area, especially those that are
land-locked to take their fuel
supplies. He added that the depot is
well equipped with loading stations
to enable the simultaneous filling
of as many tank trailers as desired
in a short time. "Therefore, the key
message here is that, although the
facility is located in The Gambia,
its benefits are far-reaching for
others beyond our territorial
borders" he said.
The Gambian
leader then described the petroleum
depot as a major infrastructural
project which represents a huge
national asset vital to support the
country's transformation process and
the attainment of the objectives of
Vision 2020.
He then urged
people to jealously guard the
investment and make sure that the
expected outputs are realised for
the benefit of every Gambian. He
then assured of government's maximum
support to the facility noting that
no stone would be left unturned in
the drive to bring development to
the doorstep of every Gambian.
He further
assured that government would take
every measure to create the enabling
environment for enhanced private
sector participation in the economy
and particularly important as the
countdown to the 2020 deadline for
achieving the Vision 2020 goals and
the MDGs fast approaches.
For his part,
Mohammed Bazzi, CEO of Gam-Petroleum
lauded the inspiration of President
Jammeh towards the success of this
landmark facility. He stated that
the facility has a storage capacity
of 51,000 Metric tones of heavy and
light fuel oil as well as gas and is
up to international standards.
He confirmed
that over 32 Million Euros (US
50million dollars) was spent on the
facility and will enable countries
like Mali, Guinea Bissau and other
sub-regional countries to get supply
of fuel oil. "We will also become a
refilling station of standard in the
sub-region and will benefit vessels
en route to South America and South
Africa benefit" he said.
CEO Bazzi then
saluted President Jammeh for the
confidence bestowed on him and
creating the conducive environment
by encouraging investment in this
country. He then confirmed that they
their next project in The Gambia is
the Royal Atlantic Residence and
assured that it will be another
milestone.
He also
assured of their support to the
Brikama Power Plant to extend its
megawatt from 25 to 50 megawatt to
ensure enough supply of electricity
within Western Region and other
rural areas. He then thanked all
those who supported them towards the
success of this project.
Source:
The Daily
Observer (Banjul)
26 May 2008
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