Which is which?

During the President's recent Dialogue with the People Tour Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) presented a cheque to Gamworks as their counterpart contribution towards the construction of Kayupa Road in Churchills town.

Last year, a contract was awarded to Sinco Spa to the tune of D12, 504,500 for the construction of the same Kayupa Road and the rehabilitation of the Brikama Car park in Banjul.

There are three issues here. The first one is how many contracts are we talking about now?  The second question is that one of the contracts involves the Brikama car park, but the Brikama car park is left out in the other one. So which of them is Sinco Spa handling and which one is Gamworks dealing with? And the third one is why the construction of the same road is given to two organisations?

It appears to be a repetition of the Basse Mini Stadium project, in which D13 million was reported to have been spent on a contract that should have cost D6, 500,000.

That was a needless waste. These are funds that could have been judiciously spent on our poverty alleviation programmes.

Why are these things happening again and again? Who feeds fat from the lapses?

We believe that Gamworks, given its track record of project implementation in this country, has a reputation to protect. We expect only the best from this agency.

Gamworks was established as a genuine implementing agency that will serve the Gambian people endeavouring to develop The Gambia. So they must strive to correctly reflect the needs and demands of the people and fairly meet their demands; and faithfully discharge the mission of implementing government projects with credit.

If we are to advance, our implementing agencies should always maintain close ties with the people and serve their interests at all times. With a sense of responsibility, they should see to it that not even a nail or block is wasted.

"What is not good for the beehive, cannot be good for the bees."

Marcus Aurelius