Posted by By Bekai Njie
The Gambia government has received from Turkish government through the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency at least 20 buses to ease transportation in the country.
President Adama Barrow, on behalf of The Gambia and its people received the buses at the McCarthy Square on Friday and thanked the Turkish government for the gesture.
“I’ll begin by expressing my gratitude to the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey for its support to my government,” he said.
“It could be recalled that immediately after winning the 2016 Presidential elections, His Excellency the Turkish ambassador to The Gambia Mr. Ismail Sefa showed keen interest to enhance the diplomatic ties between our two countries. Today we are here to reap one of the benefits of our strong relationship,” Barrow said.
Mr. Barrow paid tribute to Sefa for his efforts saying he has motivated both Turkish officials and investors in the past year to visit The Gambia to explore investment opportunities
“My visit to turkey earlier this year is a feature manifestation of the seriousness my government attaches to our relationship with Turkey,” he said.
He said donation of the buses is a fulfilment of a promise made by the vice president of Mareef Turkish Education Foundation, Dr. Hassan who visited him last year. He said the buses would go a long way towards providing alternative means for public transport
The Turkish ambassador to The Gambia Ismail Sefa Yuceer said: “I would like to once more reaffirm the commitment of the Turkish government to the new era and dispensation in The Gambia.”
“As a matter of fact, from the very first day in the New Gambia, the government of the Republic of Turkey, at the highest level, His Excellency President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been supportive to His Excellency President Adama Barrow and his team.”