The young people of West Coast Region (WCR) recently unveiled an agricultural coordinating body for the attainment of Vision 2016 at a meeting held at the Governor’s office in Brikama.
According to officials, the coordinating committee was established as a response to President Yahya Jammeh’s Vision 2016 rice and food self-sufficiency initiative, in which the young people would also contribute their quota to the achievement of the initiative.
Speaking at the meeting, the executive secretary of the coordinating committee, Albino Gomez, said the establishment of the body was to answer to President Jammeh’s call for Gambians to start ‘eating what we grow and grow what we eat’ and become food self-sufficient while urging the young people of the region to act together towards the common development target.
The WCR youth and sports coordinator, Mahmud Jawla, pointed out that the young people of the region want to show to the nation that when President Jammeh makes a declaration, they are always ready to be the first to respond.
The youth leader of APRC in the region, Bafoday Touray, said the initiative is out to bring all the young people of the region under one umbrella for the promotion and development of agricultural production.
The formation of the coordinating committee, he said, would provide a strong force for a youth-led development of the region, particularly on agriculture.
He advised the young people to unite as one people to effect change and development.
A member of the coordinating committee, Lamin Jammeh, said since the wake of the July 22nd Revolution, President Jammeh had been advocating for not only Gambians but for the entire African continent to go back to the land and use agriculture to liberate themselves from the long decades of importation of rice and other food products.
Yusupha Bojang and Modou Janneh, both media practitioners, described the initiative as worthy, saying it would help to unite the young people of the region.
