Gambiaj.com – (FARATO, The Gambia) President Adama Barrow on Saturday commissioned what is being described as The Gambia’s largest and most comprehensively equipped modern medical facility, the National Emergency Treatment Center and Biomedical Engineering Hospital, marking a landmark moment in the country’s healthcare history after years of planning and construction.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony held at the Farato facility, President Barrow framed the occasion as the fulfillment of a long-held national ambition. “What was once a vision is now standing before us, bringing advanced emergency and biomedical care home for every Gambian,” he declared.
A New Chapter for Healthcare
The commissioning of the hospital erected at what used to be ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh’s Kanilai Farms location in Farato, signals what the Barrow administration is positioning as a turning point in the delivery of healthcare services in The Gambia.
The President used his address to reaffirm his government’s broader development agenda, describing the new facility not as an endpoint but as the beginning of a more ambitious plan to upgrade healthcare infrastructure and services across the country.
The cutting edge modern National Emergency Treatment Center and Biomedical Engineering Hospital in Farato
He pledged that his administration would remain committed to ensuring accessible and high-quality healthcare for all citizens, regardless of their socioeconomic background or financial means, a commitment that, if realized, could transform the healthcare experience for millions of Gambians who have long struggled with limited and overstretched medical services.
President Barrow also paid tribute to all those whose efforts brought the facility to life, underlining what he called the indispensable role of teamwork and collective determination in achieving national goals.
Fuel Price Reduction Coming July 1
In a significant economic announcement made from the podium, President Barrow revealed that fuel prices in The Gambia will be reduced effective July 1, 2026, a development he linked to falling global oil prices.
Drawing on a personal anecdote to underscore his point, the President recounted a conversation with an unnamed individual who had allegedly expressed a wish for the United States to continue its military strikes on Iran so that rising oil prices would sustain economic hardship in the country.
“But I replied that in The Gambia, we have faith in God, and today, oil prices have gone down,” Barrow said. “Coming next month, on July 1st, I will reduce fuel prices in The Gambia.”
The announcement is likely to be welcomed by ordinary Gambians, many of whom have felt the pinch of rising transportation and commodity costs driven in part by fuel prices.
Power Outages and Political Barbs
President Barrow also addressed the country’s persistent electricity challenges, delivered through the public utility provider NAWEC, which has been a source of significant public frustration in recent months.
He told the crowd that power supply had since been restored and called on those who had been vocal in their criticism during the outages to be equally forthcoming in acknowledging the improvement.
“The electricity that has left is back now. Now those who shouted when electricity was gone must have the courage to shout that it has come back. If it goes, you say that it is gone. When it comes back, say that it has come back,” he said, adding that his only wish as President was peace and goodwill for every Gambian.
The speech took on a sharper political edge as President Barrow directly confronted critics who have sought to downplay his government’s role in the development of the Farato hospital, with some suggesting the project was purely a World Bank initiative with little Gambian government ownership.
Barrow pushed back firmly, asserting that The Gambia is a stakeholder and financial contributor to the World Bank and that it would therefore be misleading to characterize the hospital as an externally owned project.
In what were his most pointed remarks of the afternoon, the President did not mince words about the quality of discourse from his detractors. “Some people have gone to school and got degrees and PhDs, but the only difference between them and a cow is the horns,” he said, to what witnesses described as a mixed reaction from the audience.
A Legacy Under Construction
Wrapping up his address, President Barrow invoked the words of Senegalese music legend Youssou Ndour to make the case that actions, not rhetoric, define leadership.
Rather than trading words with political opponents who he said were bent on mischaracterizing his record, Barrow said the hospital and other visible developments speak for themselves.
“I made concrete and visible achievements Gambians are seeing. Let them do theirs instead of always boasting about who they are,” he said.
The commissioning of the National Emergency Treatment Center and Biomedical Engineering Hospital comes at a time when The Gambia’s healthcare system remains under considerable strain, with the country historically dependent on medical referrals abroad for specialized treatment.
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