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All Set for Queen's Baton Visit

Oct 30, 2009, 12:37 PM | Article By: Lamin Drammeh

The Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC) is on the verge of hosting the Queen's Barton, which is due in Banjul on December 11th for a four-day-visit, being the second time since 2005.

This was revealed to the gathering by the Executive Director of the Gambia National Olympic Committee, Mr. George Gomez at a press conference held at the GNO C's headquarters' in Kanifing yesterday.
The Queen's Baton which is expected to arrive in Banjul from Sierra Leone will be later escorted to the Gambian leader, President Jammeh at the nation's highest office in State House on the same day. It will be formally handed to President Jammeh before proceeding to the July 22nd Square for a reception.

According to George Gomez, the day will be very significant hence it is expected to attract interest from National Assembly members, companies and school children who will be part of this great day in the annals of sports in the country.

The event will also include diverse cultural troops, such as the Indian community in The Gambia, the Nigerian Community, amongst others that are all expected to come out in their large numbers at the July 22nd Square in Banjul for the opening ceremony on Friday 11th.

The event, according to George Gomez, can also give The Gambia an opportunity to sell our tourism and the country at large.

Furthermore, this is a unique opportunity because the Queen's Barton is gold plated and it can capture sounds that can be transmitted immediately from the Barton to the whole world within a period of 6 minutes, Mr. Gomez explained.

He therefore advised all and sundry to desist from using abusive or foul words, given the fact that the Barton is so sensitive that it can capture such abusive words when someone gets so closer to it.

On 12th December, the Barton will be allocated to the participating companies that are taking part in the event. It is expected to involve participating schools on the following day.

The final day which is slated for Monday 14,the Queen's Barton would be allocated to the regions and it will travel as far as the whole of the Western Region. From there, it would finally proceed to the Banjul International Airport for Ghana, where the four-day visits will wrap-up.