The French
Embassy in The Gambia on Thursday donated a consignment of radio equipment
worth €42, 270 (equivalent to D1, 965, 555) to the Gambia Radio and Television
Services, GRTS.
The consignment, which included equipment such as transmitters, satellite dishes and receivers, as well as exciters among others, was handed over to the minister of Information and Communication Infrastructure.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony held at the GRTS building along MDI road, Nana Grey-Johnson, the minister, said the donation followed an earlier visit to GRTS by the French charge d’affaires during which he observed the urgent need for equipment.
While thanking the French diplomat for fulfilling his promise, Minister Grey-Johnson assured him that the equipment will be used for the intended purpose.
According to him, staff at the state broadcaster are determined to work, and with the coming of the new equipment they will be able to move broadcasting to another level.
Jean Marc Transon, charge d’affaires at the French Embassy in Banjul, underscored the importance the embassy attaches to enhancing relations between Banjul and Paris.
According to him, the new equipment is expected to boost the quality of radio broadcasting in the country.
Abdou Touray, deputy director general at GRTS, commended the French Embassy for the timely intervention.
“As all would recall, we have been having a longstanding cooperation with our French partners. If you look at the TV, we benefitted a lot with regards to Canal France International (CFI) that we signed a partnership agreement with over the years. This partnership has yielded dividends for GRTS,’’ he stated.
According to him, through this partnership, GRTS has over the years benefited numerous from training programmes from CFI on an annual basis.
He noted that the newly-donated equipment will go long way in their service delivery.
This, he added, was an important development, “because it came at a time when our second satellite project is under way,” and that it will complement the efforts of the government in ensuring that the transmitter signals reach most parts of the country.
Other speakers at the ceremony included Malik Jones, deputy permanent secretary at the ministry and Famara Dampha, director of Radio Transmission Engineering.
