Re: BAC Under Fire Again

With reference to the article carried September 01, 2009 in this Paper and captioned 'BAC Under Fire Again', the Brikama Area Council acting through their Counsel have send their reactions to some of the allegations mentioned in the said article. In particular, reactions were given on three issues. Firstly, the BAC has pointed out that the picture of the Honorable Minister on the side of the said article makes him appear to have had a hand in the allegations. We are sorry for any inconvenience or misgivings, although it should be said that the picture was not meant to link the Minister with any of the allegations which in fact refer only to the Area Council and not his office, but merely to draw his attention to the matter as being the overall overseer of all Local Government matters.

Secondly, the BAC reject the section of the article citing misappropriation of D54 million. The Area Council is right. That figure represents a budget estimate and not a part of any misappropriation. We therefore apologize to the BAC for that error on the D54 million, and that same error is again regretted in the third objection of the BAC's communication regarding the same D54 Million.

These rejoinders have been expressed as requested by the BAC "without prejudice', and have similarly been made by us 'without prejudice'. We are thankful to the BAC for their communication and observations.