Banjul
Banjul King Fahad Mosque and surroundings
Banjul seen from SPOT satellite
Banjul Banjul seen from SPOT satellite
Coordinates: 13°27′11″N 16°34′39″W / 13.45306°N 16.5775°W / 13.45306; -16.5775Coordinates: 13°27′11″N 16°34′39″W / 13.45306°N 16.5775°W / 13.45306; -16.5775
Country	The Gambia
Division	Banjul
Area
• Urban	36 sq mi (93 km2)
Population (2003)
• City	34,828
• Density	970/sq mi (374.5/km2)
• Urban	357,238

Banjul (formerly Bathurst), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital of The Gambia, and is in the division of the same name. The population of the city proper is only 34,828, with the Greater Banjul Area, which includes the City of Banjul and the Kanifing Municipal Council, at a population of 357,238 (2003 census).^[1] Banjul is on St Mary's Island (Banjul Island), where the Gambia River enters the Atlantic Ocean. The island is connected to the mainland — by passenger and vehicle ferries to the north and by bridges to the south.

Etymology[link]

Banjul takes its name from the Mandé people who gathered specific fibres on the island, which were used in the manufacture of ropes. Bang julo is the Mandinka (Mande) word for rope fibre. The mispronunciation led to the word Banjul.^{[citation needed]}

History[link]

Astronaut View of Banjul

In 1651 Banjul was leased by the Duke of Courland from the king of Kombo, as part of Courland colonization.^[2]

In 1816, the British founded Banjul as a trading post and base for suppressing the slave trade. The British renamed the Banjul Island to St. Mary and first named Bathurst after Henry Bathurst, the secretary of the British Colonial Office, but was changed to Banjul in 1973.^[3]

Arch 22 at the entrance to Banjul

On 22 July 1994 Banjul was the scene of a bloodless military coup d'état in which President Dawda Jawara was overthrown and replaced by the country's current President Yahya Jammeh. To commemorate this event, Arch 22 was built as an entrance portal to the capital. The gate is 35 metres tall and stands at the centre of an open square. It houses a textile museum.

Attractions in the city include the Gambian National Museum, the Albert Market, Banjul State House, Banjul Court House, African Heritage Museum, two cathedrals and several major mosques.^[4]

Banjul is the destination of the Plymouth-Banjul Challenge, a charity road rally.

Economy[link]

Banjul is the country's economic and administrative centre and includes the Central Bank of The Gambia. Peanut processing is the country's principal industry, but beeswax, palm wood, palm oil, and skins and hides are also shipped from the port of Banjul.^[5]

Banjul is also the home of the Gambia Technical Training Institute. GTTI is currently engaged in a partnership with non-profit organization Power Up Gambia to develop a solar energy training program.

Climate[link]

Banjul has a very warm climate year round. Under the Koppen climate classification, Banjul features a tropical wet and dry climate. The city features a lengthy dry season, spanning from November to June and a relatively short wet season covering the remaining four months. However, during those four months, Banjul tends to see heavy precipitation. August is usually the rainiest month, with on average 500 mm of precipitation falling. Temperatures are somewhat constant, though it tends to be slightly cooler during the wet season than the dry season.

Transport[link]

Banjul International Airport

Albert Market

A street in Banjul

Ferries sail from Banjul to Barra. The city is served by the Banjul International Airport. Banjul is on the Trans–West African Coastal Highway connecting it to Dakar and Bissau, and will eventually provide a paved highway link to 11 other nations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Banjul International Airport was one of the primary Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) sites for the Space Shuttle. It was selected in September 1987, replacing a TAL site at Dakar, Senegal, due to runway deficiencies and geographic hazards there. Banjul was closed as a TAL site in November 2002, although it was used for the STS-125 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009.

Districts[link]

Districts of Banjul

Banjul Division (Greater Banjul Area) is divided into two districts:

• Banjul
• Kanifing

Sister cities[link]

• Ostend (Belgium)^[7]
• Grimsby (UK)
• Newark, New Jersey (United States).
• Taipei, (Taiwan) since 1997.

See also[link]

• Divisions of The Gambia
• Districts of The Gambia

	The Gambia portal
	Serer portal

References[link]

1. ^ Gambia Divisions
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ History of Banjul
4. ^ Banjul Gambia - Travel Information
5. ^ State Department Information
6. ^ "Average Conditions Banjul, Gambia". BBC Weather. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2413876. Retrieved April 11, 2012. 
7. ^ Cooperation is established in ICT-infrastructure for the B.C.C. and other projects for capacity building. Ostend-based humanitarian organisation Medios vzw is supporting the Female Surgical Ward of the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital. (more info on http://stedenband.oostende.be)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Banjul

• Access Gambia - Hotels, News, Travel & Photos
• photo documentary 2007 (Lisa Van Damme)

v t e Administrative divisions of the Gambia LGAs Banjul LGA Basse Brikama Janjanbureh Kanifing Kerewan Kuntaur Mansa Konko National capital, Divisions and Districts Banjul City Banjul District Kanifing Central River Division Fulladu West Janjanbureh Lower Saloum Niamina Dankunku Niamina East Niamina West Niani Nianija Sami Upper Saloum Lower River Division Jarra Central Jarra East Jarra West Kiang Central Kiang East Kiang West North Bank Division Central Baddibu Jokadu Lower Baddibu Lower Niumi Upper Baddibu Upper Niumi Upper River Division Fulladu East Kantora Sandu Wuli West Coast Foni Bintang-Karenai Foni Bondali Foni Brefet Foni Jarrol Foni Kansala Kombo Central Kombo East Kombo North/Saint Mary Kombo South

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Helen Mary Jones (born 24 December 1954) is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Warrington North since 1997. Andrew Roth of the Guardian describes her as an: "intelligent, battle hardened leftwing solicitor built into the Labour machine"^[2] She was Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from 2009 to 2010.

Early life[link]

Jones was born and brought up in Chester, the daughter of the late Robert Edward Jones and the late Mary Scanlan.^[3]

Jones was educated at St Werburgh's Primary School and Ursuline Convent in Chester. She graduated with a BA from University College London and a MEd from the University of Liverpool. She also holds qualifications from the former Chester College and Manchester Metropolitan University.

Before entering Parliament, Jones had an established political career as a local councillor, serving on Chester City Council from 1984-1991. She was unsuccessful in her initial attempts to move beyond local government, contesting the Lancashire Central constituency at the 1984 European Parliament election, and North Shropshire and Ellesmere Port and Neston at the 1983 and 1987 general elections. However, in 1997, she was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the 'safe' Labour seat of Warrington North and the subsequent general election saw her win the seat with 62.1% of the vote. This had shrunk to 53.5% in the 2005 election and shrunk again to 45.5% in the 2010 election.

Alongside her political career, Jones has been employed as an English teacher, a solicitor, a development officer with the mental health charity MIND and a justice and peace officer with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool.

Parliamentary career[link]

Jones served as a member of the House of Commons select committees on Catering (1997–98), Public Administration (1998–2000) and Education and Employment (1999–2001 and 2003-). She also served on the Standing Orders Committee (1999-) and the Unopposed Bills (Panel) (1999-). She was also a member of Labour Party backbench committees on Home Affairs (2002-), Education and Employment (1997–2001), Health (1997–2001) and International Development (1997–2001). She served on the all-party groups on Child Abduction (1999–2002) and CAFOD (2003-). From June 2007 to October 2008, she served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Dawn Primarolo MP, Minister of State for Health.

In March 2007, Jones praised Gordon Brown's controversial budget, following his promise of increased spending in education. She believed the measures would benefit around 4,200 families and 7,300 children in her constituency. At the same time, she attacked Conservative Party leader David Cameron, stating that Gordon Brown "commanded the Commons, in stark contrast to David Cameron, who was lightweight." ^[4]

2008 reshuffle[link]

In the cabinet reshuffle of October 2008, Helen Jones was promoted to a junior Government role in the position of Assistant Government Whip.^[5] The following day, local newspaper Warrington Guardian reported that Gordon Brown had telephoned her on Sunday, October 5 to offer her the post.^[6]

The following day, the Daily Mail reported that the reshuffle had seen a "squad of Gordon Brown's political hitmen" ^[7] move into the Whips office (one of whom was Jones). In the June 2009 reshuffle Jones was promoted further, becoming Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, one of the Government's more senior whipping roles.

Work in Warrington North[link]

Helen Jones lives in Warrington North with her family, in the village of Culcheth, and employs her husband her as parliamentary assistant.^[8]

In early 2007, Jones slammed Scottish Power Manweb for its treatment of bereaved relatives of dead customers when the company continued to send bills to a deceased relative's home. She stated in the Commons that "Scottish Power Manweb's policy is a blatant attempt to obtain money for electricity which has not been used." ^[9]

In the latter part of 2007, Jones backed the campaign to save Woolston High School, after Warrington Borough Council announced plans to close the Warrington North school.

Helen Jones has engaged in a fierce war of words with Warrington Borough Council on numerous occasions, beginning when she obtained emails that revealed the council's Chief Executive had explored the possibility of legal action against her following an Adjournment Debate in the Commons (where Jones had accused the council of failing to answer her letters on concerns raised by Warrington North constituents). Helen condemned the council's threat as a "waste of time and money", reminding them that any comments made in the House enjoy legal protection. She claimed that the council's threat to sue her for defamation "raised questions about the competence" of council officers.^[10]

Jones responded to the threat in the Liverpool Daily Post by stating: "Maybe they think it will shut me up – but it won’t. I will continue to speak up for my constituents." ^[10]

In the same year, Jones made local headlines when she posed with a cardboard cut out of the council's Chief Executive in protest at her alleged failure to tackle important community issues, including anti-social behaviour in the Orford area.^[10] She accused the council of "showing disrespect" to people in the north of the town and told the Warrington Guardian at the time that: "Our Chief Executive appears to have gone missing." ^[11]

In June 2008, Warrington's first energy-saving wind turbine was launched at the headquarters of the North West Regional Development Agency in the town. Helen Jones joined the NWDA's Chief Executive, Steven Broomhead, and local media to officially launch the turbine.^[12]

Voting record[link]

How Helen Jones voted on key issues since 2001 (They Work For You):

• Voted for introducing a smoking ban.
• Voted for introducing ID cards.
• Voted against introducing foundation hospitals.
• Voted against introducing student top-up fees.
• Voted for Labour's anti-terrorism laws.
• Voted for the Iraq war.
• Voted against investigating the Iraq war.
• Voted for replacing Trident.
• Voted for the hunting ban.
• Voted for equal gay rights.
• Voted for Digital Economy Bill

Personal life[link]

She married Michael Vobe on July 23, 1988 in Cheshire and has one son, born June 1989.

External links[link]

• ePolitix - Helen Jones official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Helen Jones MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Helen Jones MP
• BBC Politics page

News items[link]

• Criticising ambulance service in November 2003

References[link]