A
month-long training for record personnel from across the Civil Service and
parastatals ended on Tuesday at GTMI in Kanifing.
It
was the 17th in-service training for records personnel organised by the
National Records Service (NRS).
The
29 participants were trained on records management techniques and procedures
from 19 July to 23 August, 2016 and were awarded certificates upon completion.
Speaking
at the closing ceremony on behalf of the auditor general of The Gambia, Pa
Majage Ndow said the amount of data organisations generate and store grow
exponentially each year.
“Information
has always been an organisation’s central resource; without it, the modern
organisation simply cannot function,” he said.
Mr
Ndow, however, pointed out that many organisations lack effective policies and
procedures for systematic control of their recorded information.
“As
a result, they keep some records too long, spend too much to store them, waste
time looking for misplaced information, risk penalties for non-compliance with
record keeping regulations, risk a public-relations nightmare, and fail to
protect mission-critical information from harm,” he said.
“The
creation, storage, retrieval, use, and destruction (or permanent archival
retention) of information of all types and in all media is an increasingly
difficult challenge for business and government organisations,” he added.
Ndow
noted that despite the application of information technologies, “the mounting
rise of paperwork requirements continues to accelerate”.
He
further explained that in today’s volatile corporate environment, record
management is not optional.
“In
fact, records management works all day every day for every unit in those
organisations that adopt a comprehensive records management programme,” he
affirmed.
Elizabeth
Bahoum, director of National Records Service, urged participants to maintain
the ethics of professional record keeping.
Abdou
Bah, a PMO staff, said capacity building of civil servants is on top of PMO’s
agenda.
Juldeh
Penda Sowe who delivered the vote of thanks on behalf of the participants
commended all those who contributed to the success of “such an important the
training”.
