A retired civil engineer has disclosed the country's new roads in the Kanifing Municipality and West Coast Region wouldn't survive more than seven years. 

"The contractors are using double surface dressing, which is a method used for rural roads. It is a waste of taxpayers' money because these roads hardly last compared to some of the roads constructed during the last regime," he said.  

When asked about the much-talked-about Iceman-Kanifing South road, the retired engineer, who begged for anonymity, said: "That road is not yet completed. They might use double or triple surface dressing. It's a cheap method. So when you do the first layer, you open it to traffic to do the compaction for you. Then you put in the smaller aggregates later to fill in the potholes. If you do it well, there will be no potholes after the second layer." 

He further disclosed that the Sukuta-Latri Kunda Sabiji road is also a double surface dressing.  

"If I were the president, I wouldn't let the contractors use that method. Those roads usually last for 5-7 years. Banjul - Brikama road was built in the 80s and it was only repaired once in 2010 because we used asphalt. Westfield- Brikama was done later in 2006 and it is still good after 15 years with all the traffic on it," said the engineer.  

He continued: "So Barrow should invest in asphalt roads like the Sukuta- Jambanjelly. All his new roads will not survive more than 7 years. Even after one year, you will need to do maintenance. It is like the roads constructed by Hadim Gaye. After one year, you will see potholes.” 

The government of President Adama Barrow is about to construct more urban roads ahead of the OIC summit in The Gambia. The project is funded from a loan of 50 million dollars from the Saudi Fund for Development.