Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – The sharp confrontation brewing between the central government and the Brikama Area Council (BAC) has suddenly escalated after Information and Infrastructure officials warned that the recently built Kora Monument in Brikama could be demolished if it obstructs a planned road expansion project.
The warning, issued by Ebrima Sillah, minister of Transport, Works and Infrastructure, has triggered a swift and angry response from BAC Chairman Yankuba Darboe, raising the prospect of a direct institutional clash over the project.
Speaking during a broadcast on Gambia Radio and Television Services, Sillah said any structure—whether public or private—that encroaches on a planned road corridor would be removed to make way for infrastructure development.
The minister specifically cited plans for a major road upgrade in the Brikama area, including a proposed dual carriageway stretching from Jah Oil to Gunjur Junction as part of a broader government plan to construct about 42 kilometers of roads around the town.
“If councils build into the road corridor, those structures will be demolished to make way for the road,” Sillah warned, stressing that local authorities must coordinate closely with the ministry and physical planning bodies before undertaking major development works.
He said unplanned urban growth in many Gambian towns has complicated infrastructure development, adding that stronger coordination between the central government and local councils is necessary to avoid wasting public resources.
The issue surfaced during the same broadcast when Information Minister Ismaila Ceesay suggested that the council appeared to be constructing a monument within the alignment of the proposed road expansion, raising concerns that the structure could block the project.
Council Fires Back
The comments triggered an immediate backlash from Darboe, who accused the minister of spreading falsehoods to justify demolishing what he described as a beautification project undertaken by the council.
In a strongly worded Facebook post titled “Enemies of Progress: Minister Sillah Lies to Justify Demolitions of Kora Monument,” the BAC chairman rejected the government’s claims and alleged that the move was politically motivated.
Darboe said that in early February 2025 he led a delegation of council officials and planners to meet senior management of the National Roads Authority (NRA) to discuss development plans along the road corridor from Brikama Jah Oil to the monument site.
According to him, the NRA had at the time indicated that it had no plans to expand that particular road.
“They told us they had a World Bank-funded project covering 160 kilometers of roads across the country, including a dual carriageway from Yundum to Bullock via the Kabafita Trans-Gambia Highway, but not that road,” Darboe wrote.
He added that NRA officials later visited the council and were taken on a tour of the proposed development sites for drainage works and public spaces, and that at no point was the council warned against carrying out works in the area.
Darboe further argued that the monument was deliberately designed to align with existing shops along the road and does not intrude into the road corridor.
“If the monument interferes with the road corridor, then all other structures along that road would equally be in violation,” he said.
A Brewing Institutional Clash
The BAC chairman also questioned the practicality of building a dual carriageway through what he described as the heart of Brikama’s bustling commercial zone, suggesting the area is more suited for pedestrian-friendly planning rather than a highway.
“It is at the center of the Brikama Central Market,” he wrote. “Any serious planner would think of pedestrianizing that space rather than putting a superhighway through the middle of a market.”
The dispute highlights growing friction between the central government and one of the country’s most politically influential local councils.
With both sides publicly standing their ground and accusing each other of misinformation, the standoff now risks escalating into a broader institutional confrontation over development authority and political control in the West Coast region.
Unless a compromise is reached, the fate of the Kora Monument could become the flashpoint in an increasingly tense relationship between the government and the Brikama Area Council, one that now appears headed toward a potentially messy showdown over urban development and political power.
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