Mr.
President, the recent price reduction of fuel in The Gambia is very welcoming
as oil price has reduced globally.
Production
of oil in Saudi Arabia and Russia increased because they did not agree on price
and the coronavirus has also caused a reduction in the demand of oil in the
world so the price also dropped drastically from $50 to $20 a barrel.
Mr.
President, with last week’s redeployment of permanent secretaries to various
ministries, the issue of expertise should have been put in consideration.
Always
appoint people in places they know.
For
PS Youth and Sports, appoint those with knowledge and passion for sports
considering the fact the country is developing in sports as it is important in
the world and its business in bringing foreign exchange. There are some PS’s
who have spent decade or more in a particular ministry thus moving the person
to a ministry that he or she has little knowledge of could derail national development.
Mr.
President, as father of the Nation and during this unforeseen circumstance, it
would appropriate for your government to call for a dialogue with all the
political parties in the country.
If
we can borrow a leaf from your Senegalese colleague Macky Sall, he invited all
opposition leaders, human rights activists, trade unionists and media chiefs to
take part in discussions on ways of tackling the covid-19 pandemic and other
national issues.
Mr.
President, as your covid-19 food relief programme items are being taken to all
the regions for distribution to the communities, the most vulnerable should be
given priorities and everyone treated fairly and in a transparent manner; the
money is from the taxpayers.
Mayors,
council chairmen and ward councilors should be included in the distribution
process; they represent people. They too should not politicise the food
distribution process for their own gains as this has nothing to do with
politics.
Mr.
President, it has been observed that your government has a rift with some
municipalities and councils and that is not good for our nation.
Municipalities
and councils are very important for grassroot development and no nation can
achieve all its domestic development aspirations if these institutions are
sidelined.
The
central government should work hand-in-glove with councils and municipalities
across the country for the sake of national development. We are in difficult
times and therefore we must forgo our political differences and work towards a
common goal.
Mr.
President, the only enemy we all have today is the novel coronavirus
(covid-19), and we must unite to fight against it.
Finally
Mr. President, we will keep emphasising the need to strengthen our efforts to
tighten security at the porous borders to stem the inflow of people from our
neighbouring countries. We have to understand that it worth everything to avoid
community transmission of covid-19, and in order to avert that, more stringent
measures have to be in place. We are in extra ordinary times so we need extra
ordinary measures to survive.
Since
it’s confirmed that Gambia has all together 17 confirmed cases of covid-19 with
the 12th case being imported through a porous border, your government must
redouble its efforts to avoid more cases.
Good
day!
