Gambia Ferry Services Promises to Operate 24-Hours from May 2025

Passengers Disembarking back in April 2024 © Askanwi

By Edward Francis Dalliah

The Gambia Ferry Service (GFS) is planning to introduce a 24-hour ferry service between the Banjul-Barra Ferry crossing points by May 2025.

This announcement was made in a publication by The Point Newspaper on 18th December 2024 and on the GFS Facebook page on 30th December 2024, updating the public on the ongoing rehabilitation works of the Kanilai Ferry. Currently, only one ferry operates between 6 a.m. and around 10 p.m., although the service sometimes closes earlier than scheduled.

The Kanilai Ferry, which has been in service since 2005, suffered a breakdown on 12th April 2024 while going to Barra with passengers, goods, and vehicles on board. After the breakdown, the ferry was slipped for repairs, while the Kunta Kinteh Ferry was also undergoing maintenance. As a result, no ferry service was available between the 12th of April and the 10th of May 2024.

GFS Management touring the facility © GFS

Despite promises from the Minister of Transport, Works, and Infrastructure, Hon. Ebrima Sillah, made during the Mansa Kunda Town Hall that the Kanilai Ferry would be out for 18 weeks for maintenance and further assurances from GFS that the ferry would return to service in September 2024, these assurances were not met. A promise tracker published by Askanwi and FactCheck Gambia revealed that the Kanilai Ferry is now expected to return to service in March 2025.

According to the latest update from the GFS, rehabilitation work on the Kanilai Ferry is “in full force” as preparations continue for the much-anticipated introduction of a 24-hour service in 2025. As passengers eagerly await the ferry's return and the implementation of the extended service hours, it is important to note that should the Kunta Kinteh Ferry be out of service, there will be no ferry available to operate. This will leave passengers with no option but the use of boats and local canoes to shuttle to and fro the Banjul-Barra crossing points.

Advocates press conference on Ferry Services © Askanwi

In April 2024, there was no ferry service, resulting in passengers turning to use boats and local canoes. This prompted three youth-led organizations, namely Nuimi Hands, the National Youth Parliament, and the Gambia Participates, to schedule a protest but were denied a permit. Unable to go on with the protest, they held a press conference calling on the government to work on solving the ferry crisis and also construct ramps for boats and local canoes in Banjul and Barra “for safe, convenient docking of the boats to ensure the dignity of the users, particularly the elderly.”

However, it remains unknown if the government will buy into their call. Boats and local canoes have been a means of transport in The Gambia, most especially in the subregion. However, it is always difficult for women and girls to board due to the lack of ramps. In the absence of this young men charge to carry passengers from the boats on their shoulders over the water to disembark and alight on firm ground. This is something the youth-led organizations are against, forcing them to call on the government to build ramps for easy and safe boarding.