The Gambia Ports Authority has paid a record-breaking dividend to The Gambia government. This came to light at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Finance conference hall at the Quadrangle in Banjul on Friday.

The parastatal announced its profit for 2021, presenting a cheque of a whopping D170 million to the Gambia government, which is unprecedented in the country's history, officials say.

Finance Minister Seedy Keita received the cheque on behalf of the government. He acknowledged that the dividend paid to government by the authority is unprecedented.

He called on public establishments and parastatals to expect better from the government as they work together.

"We are moving towards a performance management system where all the SOEs will be required to sign performance contracts with the government. We have already signed one with NAWEC and intend to sign three additional ones this year, namely with the GPA, GNPC, and SSHFC," he disclosed.

The Finance minister went further to urge public enterprises to provide public services to members of the public as expected and in line with their mandate and duties. He also advised them to play their part in the realisation of the government's developmental agenda by regularly contributing meaningfully to the government.

The Finance minister noted that this would assist in being able to fund vital development initiatives across the country.