A presentation of over 30 trophies of various types was yesterday held at the Independence Stadium Board Room.
The trophies were handed over to the Ministry of Youth and Sports at a ceremony that brought representatives from both the Sports Council and the Gambia Scout Association.
In collaboration with the Gambia Scout Association the trophies were donated by Loek Struick from Holland, who also worked at the Ministry of Justice in Holland.
In his speech, the donor said that at his first visit to The Gambia, he got overwhelmed by the Gambian teachers and came back three years later.
The Chief Scout Commissioner, Pa Omar Bojang, said he got to know the donor through the Scout ban, saying many uniforms and drums of the scout ban were being imported by the donor, Loek Struick.
Loek, he noted, has been instrumental in realising the development of scout and other areas of scouting.
Whilst thanking the minister for accepting the donation, he said this was the fourth presentation made by the donor.
On the behalf of the head of State, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Alieu K. Jammeh, thanked the donor for presenting the trophies to the ministry.
He said President Yahya Jammeh is the Chief of the Gambia Scout Association, who knows the values of scouting and interested in building good values and discipline in the young people of the country.
“Scouting is one institution and tool that can facilitate the process of building good values in the young people of the country,” he said, adding: “In the absence of discipline, care and love for one another, our communities cannot be in one unit.”
He also said that if one lives in a community in which people are not in one unit, the society is doomed.
The Executive Secretary of the National Sports Council, Mamudou Max Jallow, thanked the donor for the gesture.
He said the trophies would go a long way in complementing the ministry’s efforts in sports development, which he said different associations and schools would benefit from.
Other speakers on the occasion included the chairman of the sports council, Alhagie Sulayman Njie and others.
