The National Assembly Member for Serrekunda Constituency Hon: Halifa Sallah has said that the current debt of the country is over 100.2% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and the GDP is over D47b and it is very clear that this year the budget provides for D14.3b revenue, D19b expenditure. This means the country is running a deficit of D4.7b and the international community will not accept that this will be solved by domestic buying.
Hon: Sallah made this remarks on Tuesday
during the adjournment debate on the selection of committees at the National
Assembly.
“We
are dealing with a crisis and National Assembly Members should be conscious of
that. Section 1 of the constitution states that Gambia is a sovereign secular
republic but is not yet secular republic and somebody has to challenge that in
the Supreme Court,” he said.
He
added that it is important to come up with term limits and emphasized the
necessity of security of tenure for judges and the Independent Electoral
Commission (IEC).
Hon:
Sallah stressed the challenges rural settlements are facing and also other
villages within Kombos. “This challenge must be addressed by the executives
linking to the councils and National Assembly,” he said.
“GIEPA
what is it role? We were told that FASDEP has contributed $28M, GCAG $19M, NEMA
$84M all these monies went into agriculture. We need to invest and the issue of
accountability and transparency will be paramount. National Assembly Members
will be held accountable so that we can deliver services to our people,” he
stated.
The
Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Amadou Sanneh earlier this year said
that Yahya Jammeh and his APRC Government left Gambia with monstrous debts of
D48.3 billion.
The
National Assembly adjourned to sine and die on Tuesday.
