I would very much like to read the views of other posters on Bantaba in Cyberspace,my first post on this topic is now over a year old,I think that this from the D.O. is almost an identical article to that of the Point,can both newspapers be totally wrong in their observations ? (OK, no pun intended ).
"As we have always been urging, whatever government does is a way of creating opportunities, it is up to the people to seize the opportunity and make good use of the chances made available to them. We therefore once again call on the youth of the country to exploit the fishing sector as it is as lucrative as all the other sectors."
Let’s go fishing Africa » Gambia Friday, August 02, 2013
Editorial
Contrary to what is popularly believed, Africa's development prospects rest, for the most part, on the hands of its own people; and not anyone else's.
In history, there is not a single nation that has attained full development without the full commitment of its own resources. Regretfully though, it has taken this continent of ours ages to come to appreciate the fact that our locally available wherewithal is just enough to take us to international standards.
The natural resources needed for this have never been the problem, nor has there been any shortage of the human resource base. The only attributable problem is that, until recently, we lacked the wisdom to see that the continent was underexploited.
In The Gambia, for instance, the fishing industry has always been a potentially productive sector, yet it has barely been exploited. That is mainly as a result of reluctance on the part of Gambians,because over the years government has pumped millions of dalasis in the industry.The result has been that foreigners dominate the industry, and the resultant effect is that they dictate the course of our dietary habits.
Fish, being one of the most popular sources of protein for Gambians by virtue of its availability, as compared to meat, forms a crucial part of meals prepared in Gambian households. For many more people, it is even popular during certain feasts; religious as well as social. Unfortunately, despite its abundance, there is a shortage during these feasts, because the foreign nationals we rely on have to go home to spend these special occasions with their families. This is all the more reason why Gambians should take ownership of an industry as crucial as this.
The government of The Gambia of course, is not relenting in its strive to ensure that Gambians are given the opportunity to run their own affairs. We have seen a number of undertakings that are geared towards this. Over the years we have seen the training of youth on fishing techniques, equipping of youth groups with fishing gargets, building of storage facilities at storage sites and of recent an ultra modern fishing jetty.
As we have always been urging, whatever government does is a way of creating opportunities, it is up to the people to seize the opportunity and make good use of the chances made available to them. We therefore once again call on the youth of the country to exploit the fishing sector as it is as lucrative as all the other sectors. Author: Daily Observer
http://observer.gm/africa/gambia/article/lets-go-fishing |