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On 9th February 2024 , the President of the ECOWAS Commission sanctioned a special Mission to the Bo-Waterside-Jendema land border, where Engineers, Sector Ministries and Border Control Officials from the two neighboring Member States, Liberia and Sierra Leone, met to review and approve architectural, engineering, electro-mechanical and related technical designs for a new ultra-modern Joint Border Post to be constructed at this strategic land border crossing between the two Countries. The reports also covered social facilities and amenities to be provided to the citizens of the Jendema and Bo-Waterside communities.
Based on the JBP Concept, officials from both Member States will sit together (side-by-side) to conduct border controls, with an extensive interconnectivity to enable data sharing and advance processing of traders and community citizens traveling across the border.
The new Jendema-Bo Waterside Joint Border Post is yet another major regional integration intervention being provided by the ECOWAS Commission to facilitate cross border trade and the free movement of community citizens along the Dakar-Abidjan Road Corridor. In addition to improving the border crossing environment for officials and travelers of the two neighboring Member States, this Joint Border Post complements the ongoing project to transform the transport corridor from Dakar through Banjul, Bissau, Conakry, Freetown, Monrovia to Abidjan, into a supranational economic development corridor, which will spur on development of economic activities among the corridor Countries.
The two Member States in May 2023 handed over two sites at their respective borders to host the JBP which will be the split model considering the nature of the border (river boundary) and the needed total acreage required.
The Commission through its internal budget undertook the architectural, related engineering designs and environmental/social studies for the JBP. The draft reports covering Civil & Structural drawings, Electromechanical Drawings, Environmental & Social Impact Assessment Reports, Geotechnical Reports, Technical Specifications, Bill of Quantities & Standard Bidding Document have been produced. Officials from the two governments therefore met within the vicinity of the border to review, scrutinize, and approve of the designs and related reports.
Government officials comprising Engineers, Immigration, Customs, Architects, Plant & Phytosanitary, Border Health, Border Security, Fire and Environmental Experts, as well as the traditional chiefs, and local government officials all participated in the design reviews and validation. The delegations were led by the Heads of ECOWAS National Units of the two Member States in the company of their counterparts from the Foreign Affairs Ministries.
The Transport Directorate of the ECOWAS Commission, the technical implementer of the project, will supervise the finalization of the engineering designs and Tender Documents in four weeks. The Specific Procurement Notice will then be published to for the selection of the Works Contractor. The Construction works for the JBP is expected to commence in September 2024.
The ECOWAS Commission has also completed engineering and architectural designs for similar ultra-modern border crossing facilities between Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia at Prollo Border as well as at the Gbapleu Border between Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire. A similar facility will be constructed at the Jibya Border Between Niger and Nigeria.
