According
to the Islamic calendar, the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, locally known as
Tobaski, will be celebrated on Saturday, 2nd September 2017.
As
the Muslim faith demands, every household head should slaughter a ram in
commemoration of the occasion, which is also known as the ‘Feast of Sacrifice’.
This
year, Mr President, the feast will have added significance for it will be your
first Tobaski as President of The Gambia, God willing.
We
wish to remind you of the importance Gambians attach to Tobaski and implore you
to initiate timely and concrete measures to ensure that there is sufficient
supply of sheep at affordable prices.
In
this regard, government should without delay use its bilateral relations with
neighbouring countries such as Senegal, Mauritania and Mali to ensure the
unimpeded importation of sheep into the country to cater for the huge demand.
Mr
President, we also wish to suggest that you take the following measures to
facilitate the arrival of sheep from the neighbouring countries: government
should ensure the timely crossing of the flocks of sheep at the ferry points in
the country; fees for ferry crossing should be reduced, and municipal tax on
sheep should be abolished.
These
measures will serve as incentives to the vendors and help control prices so
that people can afford to buy and slaughter sheep as required on the feast of
sacrifice.
In
addition, Mr President, government should provide the ‘one-by-six’ salary
advance to all civil servants to enable them meet their Tobaski obligations.
This
assistance, if provided, will save our hard working civil servants from the
dilemma of providing Tobaski requirements from their meager resources.
As
the President, we want you to know how seriously Gambians, especially civil
servants, look up to the government for assistance in their hour of need.
Have
a good day, Mr President.
