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| toubab1020 |
Posted - 17 Jul 2018 : 19:15:21
First and foremost, before the President started his tour Foroyaa indicated that the purpose of the tour is to find out the concerns of the people and how government policies are impacting on their lives.
For example, there is the vehicle policy. Prior to the President’s tour, many vehicles were seized and kept at Denton Bridge. However, after the President started his tour the vehicles are no longer at Denton Bridge. What has happened to the vehicles? Are they part of the tour?
Secondly, farmers are claiming that the fertiliser may be coming in pieces but is not favouring them. What they need is for the fertiliser to reach them. It is essential that fertiliser is applied two weeks after planting. Hence that is a key issue that the President should work on as he tours the country.
Thirdly when crops are grown and harvested. They must be sold. The President would have made a big difference if the price of groundnuts had been determined and would tell the farmers the price of their crops and the concrete initiatives taken to ensure that there is no credit buying.
Furthermore, roads which have already been constructed are eroded and without rehabilitation the construction of new roads would go hand in hand with the lack of roadworthiness of old ones. One has to visit the Sandika area of Serrekunda to see how the good road constructed is now riddled with pools of water which started as potholes, which could have been repaired to save the road. The President should give assurance that his government is ready to put an end to the poor maintenance culture of the past.
Crossing with the ferries has become a major disruption of social and economic activity. Has the government done a study of the impact of building a bridge between Barra and Banjul on the use of the ports as an economic activity. How old is the Denton Bridge? What is its current life span? Has a proper inventory been done on when its replacement is due taking into consideration the unplanned growth in the number of vehicles that ply the bridge.
Development requires more realism. We therefore hope that as the President tours the country he will make a real assessment of the degree of poverty in the country and come back to engage the technocrats to find a real solution to the economic problems of the country.
However what is expected of a transitional government is to create an open society by carrying out the constitutional, legal and institutional reforms that are required to build a level ground that will ensure free exchange of views and free, fair and genuine elections when they are due.
We will therefore follow the rest of the President’s tour. Now that the government claims to have a spokesperson the newspaper reports will be followed more closely and the answers to the concerns of the people given through interviews, press conferences and press releases.
http://foroyaa.gm/the-presidents-tour-2/
RELATED TOPICS:
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http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16025 |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| toubab1020 |
Posted - 24 Jul 2018 : 14:39:48
Contractors at the Trans-Gambia Bridge construction site at Yelli Tenda – Bamba Tenda crossing point, has informed the President that the bridge will be ready for inauguration in January 2019.
After a night stop at Mansakonko, the President started day eight of the ongoing nationwide tour with a visit to the bridge construction site, where he and his delegation joined a boat for a conducted tour of the progress of work.
Lamin Bojang, project supervisor and his team of engineers and consultants, were at hand to explain the details of the work to President Barrow.
“The foundation works, pile caps and piers are hundred per cent complete. The piers, initially expected in July 2018, are currently 93 per cent complete, while the deck, expected in November 2018, is now 67 per cent complete,” Bojang explained to the President, who was led on the inspection work by the Minister of Works, Construction and Infrastructure, Bai Lamin Jobe.
The 1.8kilometer long bridge is over five storeys high. It is designed to accommodate passage of most vessels, while longer-mast boats can easily fold their masts to pass through the bridge. The engineers described it as one of the biggest in the sub-region. Fifty seven percent of workers are Gambians, eighteen per cent expatriates, and twenty per cent Ecowas citizens.
Once complete, it is expected to be an important trade link between Gambia, Senegal and the sub-region, while opening up the region to the Cairo-Lagos trade corridor. However, the works are currently behind schedule due to what contractors say, is caused by a twenty meter thick mud on the river banks.
Meanwhile, the President was assured that over-water works will be complete by November 2018 while access roads that will link the bridge to the tar roads on either side, will take four months from November.
The Minister of Environment Lamin Dibba, was also at hand to learn how the impact of the construction of the bridge will affect the environment and be managed. “Several salvation experts were brought here to give technical advice. All possible scenarios were rehearsed to come up with the best management system possible,” the President was assured by the Minister.
http://foroyaa.gm/trans-gambia-bridge-inauguration-in-januray-2019-president-informed/ |
| toubab1020 |
Posted - 23 Jul 2018 : 19:11:36
Monday, July 23, 2018
Mr. President, as you are still continuing your 10 days nationwide meet the Peoples’ many issues are being promised by your government to the people which you intend working on as part of your development blueprint for the country.
Mr. President, during your day one meeting at Essau, NBR, you revealed your government’s plan of constructing a bridge that will connect Banjul-Barra crossing point. Although the construction of the Banjul-Barra bridge can be seen as a permanent solution to the struggling state of the Banjul-Barra ferry services, a lot of debates and issues have also arisen by the population which needs consideration.
Mr. President, whilst some are putting into consideration the economical side of building the bridge, some are thinking of the safety aspect. However, some thought that there are more priorities that the country is in dire need of than the bridge, which will cost lot of money to the state.
Safety shouldn’t be compromised also in constructing this bridge. The company to be awarded this contract should be very reliable. Private partnerships can also be invited to design, construct and maintain in the usual build, operate and transfer the back to the state as operates some countries.
Mr. President, your statement about the media not to be silenced anymore and to abolish all draconian media laws was welcomed by all the media houses and journalists in the Gambia. The 4th estate is keenly waiting to see all these draconian media laws abolished which will help your government fulfill its promise to promote freedom of the press in the country.
The media also appeals to your government to help media owners to be paid in time especially public institutions for their advertisements, as it takes a very long time for most public advertisers to pay their bills and this hampers our production, delays payment of salaries of our staffs.
Finally Mr. President, the leaked audio of Ex-president Jammeh and some bigwigs of APRC is a blessing to the country. After listening to the audio carefully, we have learned a lot of things and drawn conclusions.
Jammeh said everything “I promised to Gambians will happen. I am working on something and by the grace of Allah it will be good.”
Reading between the lines, we can say that he still has political ambition, which might disrupt the peace and stability of the country.
After killing, jailing, torturing and incarcerating people, Jammeh can’t be allowed to come back to the country without being tried as there are over 1000 victims registered with the TRRC waiting for sittings to start to give more evidence against Jammeh.
The security should be on the alert and be monitoring him and some of the APRC bigwigs both day and night. The international community should also help for his extradition to be charged on murder, economic crimes, abuse of office etc. as he has already broken the asylum rules by discussing local politics on social media and should be expelled from Equatorial Guinea.
Keep the telescope on him!
http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/good-morning-mr-president-17 |
| toubab1020 |
Posted - 19 Jul 2018 : 15:00:30
July 19, 2018
Reports of the presidential tour in the media so far indicate that the Gambian citizens are actively engaging the president and his delegation on issues of national development. Listening to the various speakers at the meetings, one will realize that the issues are crosscutting and most of them need to be addressed with a sense of urgency.
It is hoped that the delegation includes someone whose sole responsibility is to take down notes on what the people are saying so that when they return to their offices, they will use that as a guidepost to fulfill the needs of the people of the country.
Gambians have very high expectations on President Barrow and his government and they need to see that their wishes and aspirations are met. That is exactly what is called development. It is the ability of the people to have their needs fulfilled by the government.
President Barrow is also making a lot of promises and it is hoped that the people – the media in particular – will catalogue all these promises and find ways of ensuring that they are not just rhetoric but that they are translated into tangible actions for the good of our people.
During the past government, we saw how these tours had become political rallies with little or no meaning. Promises would be made, demands explained but immediately after the tour, all these would be discarded like an unwanted rag. The change that occurred on December 1st should also be translated into these actions, promises and demands. They should be met and fulfilled for the people.
http://standard.gm/site/2018/07/19/following-barrow-on-the-tour/ |
| toubab1020 |
Posted - 17 Jul 2018 : 19:32:50
Here is The Standard's contribution
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July 16, 2018
His Excellency President Adama Barrow will tomorrow 18 July embark on a nationwide tour in fulfillment of the constitutional requirement that the president tours the nation annually to discuss with the people – his electors.
This is important as it will give the president the opportunity to have discussions so as to learn first-hand what the needs of the people are. It is necessary sometimes for the governors to reach out and talk to the people who voted them into office.
It is not possible for the president to know everything in the country while sitting in the capital city. From time to time it is necessary to travel inland and discover for himself the difficulties that the people are facing in their communities.
One thing which had almost become a norm in the previous government – which defeats the purpose of the tour – is the whitewashing of everything before the president comes and present an idea of perfection and that there is no problem or no difficulties which should be solved. As a result, when the president goes he sees perfection and then will be confident that everything is fine.
This kills the initiative and defeats the purpose. True, for the sake of honour and respect, certain measures might be taken when the president is coming but it should not hide the problems. The problems and difficulties should be shown to the president so that he can find ways and means of solving them.
We hope that all those concerned will endeavor to help President Adama Barrow see the true picture of what is going on in the country, so he can work to find solutions to the problems and have plans to salvage the country.
Safe travels Mr President!
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