The Chairman of the Brikama Area Council, Sunkary Badjie, has given a three-month notice to business people in the region to come forward and pay for operating licence and compound rates, warning that failure to settle these and to obtain the relevant documents would result in legal action against defaulters.
Mr. Badjie, who spoke in an interview with our reporter over the weekend, stressed that 2010 is a year of "zero tolerance" for the non-payment of licence and rates.
"We as a council want to ensure that there is zero tolerance for people who fail to settle their licences and for non-settlement of their taxes and rates," he said, adding that this is all geared towards boosting the development agenda of the local government entity.
According to the BAC Chairman, any individual found wanting in this regard would not be spared, and would face the full force of the law. Late payment of taxes, he added, is adversely affecting the provision of services and implementation of development projects by the council.
"Business people and taxpayers must settle their payments for documents before the end of March 2010 or close their business," Badjie emphasised. It is illegal to operate a business without any authentic licence, he pointed out.
Mr. Badjie maintained that this licence must be paid for on or before the end of March 2010, failure to do so would be followed by legal action.
"The message is very simple - pay your rates and licence, and on time, to get timely development and services," he declared.
Mr. Badjie noted that the council depends exclusively on the money received from tax and rate payers, which is in turn ploughed back to the public in the form of services and development projects.
He also raised concern over the state of the environment, and said that maintaining sanitary environment is costing the council a huge amount of money.
Badjie finally called for the cooperation of the general public by coming forward to settle their rates, and licence fees on time or else legal action will be taken against any defaulters.
