The
government needs to settle down and know that there is a long way ahead, said
Hon. Halifa Sallah, adding: “We are just crawling; we need to stand and then
walk before running.”
The
National Assembly member for Serrekunda made this remark during the second
ordinary session of the 2017 legislative year at the National Assembly in
Banjul.
Hon.
Sallah told his colleague parliamentarians that they should direct every word
and action in the National Assembly “as we are having is a transitional
government inheriting an order with a mandate to build a new Gambia”.
“Consent,
truth, good faith as well as national interest must guide everyone in the
operation of the country,” he said.
“It
is important to bear in mind that unless you understand the challenges of the
country you cannot be able to provide the policy, plans, programmes and
projects to address.”
Commenting
on other issues, Hon. Sallah said The Gambia cannot be compared to America in
terms of agriculture as there are no factories available when people are
removed from the land.
“The
farmers require faming implements, fertilizers, seeds to enable them to produce
and remove themselves from poverty and if that fails to happen then it is not
my failure because it is not my direction,” he asserted. “My direction is to create a cooperative bank
that will help those family farmers to own their lands.”
Regarding
selling of government aircraft, Sallah said: “The minister told the lawmakers
that D472 million will be earned when the aircraft are sold.”
He
suggested that when the aircraft are finally sold, the money should be used to
buy a national carrier.
