Lamin Sanneh, the governor of the region confirmed this to the Daily Observer Tuesday. He explained that the name change was effected to depict the region’s actual location in the country.

According to him, Western Region is located in the West Coast of The Gambia, that is why they decided to change the name from Western Region to West Coast Region.

Lamin Sanneh pointed out that the name of the Upper River Region (URR) reflects the region's location in the upper part of the country. He added that the same thing applies to the Central River Region (CRR) Lower River Region (LRR) and the North Bank Region (NBR).