The
challenge is not resources but utilization of resources. The World Bank has
given $10 million ( half a billion dalasi) to The Gambia and the first mistake we made was to attempt
to score a political point by not clearly stating that it came from the World
Bank pledge of $12b to support the fight against the pandemic.
We
are now at the cross roads and it is a matter of live and death. The resources
at our disposal are unlimited and we must access them and we must deploy them
efficiently and effectively. We cannot wait until we reach the level of China,
Europe and America before we implement the measures that they are now
implementing. We must avoid to reach their levels. Therefore unpleasant
decisions need to be taken. It is time to close all non essential business such
as salons, video clubs, casinos, fashion shops, etc. and all non essential /
critical government services. All public markets should from now on close
early. The police and the army should be deployed to enforce the lockdown. The
boarder closure will only make sense if there are patrols to protect our porous
border. As someone said, ‘it is time to make a tradeoff between our individual
rights and the public good.’
The
police must advertise hot lines which people can call to report violations.
Once
again, we must avoid waiting till we reach the level of Europe to implement
tough measures. The government must access and deploy all necessary resources
which are in abundance out there.
If
Europe, America and China contain the virus and it moves to Africa they will
lock us out and giving our poor infrastructure, capacity and education levels,
it could have devastating consequences. So let us not be complacent.
From
A concern citizen