Senegal being a close-knit neighbouring country, the Gambian authorities should put in place proper security measures both internally and along the borders especially on the northern and southern parts of our frontiers.
The security - including the military, the police, the immigration, the SIS and the GRA - should be placed on red alert to man the borders very well, particularly porous borders, as well as the air and sea ports, to avert or prevent any spillover of insecurity and other threats from entering The Gambia.
Mr President, we would like to say we hope for the better in connection with last Friday’s mini cabinet reshuffle, which touched on very strategic ministries and departments such as the ministries of Lands, Energy and Petroleum, Tourism, Information, and Interior.
Regarding the land Ministry, which is headed now by Hon Hamat N.K. Bah, there is a need to revive the land commission and to ensure that land matters or issues are settled appropriately.
Some people and institutions in the country have over a long period of time paid D50,000 for land application to secure lands for the construction of offices and other enterprises but up to the time of this publication,they have received no feedback from the Ministry.
Mr President, it has also been observed that government is spending huge amounts of money on rent for government offices, when lands in such places as Kamalo and Kotu Area could be utilised for such national purposes.
Furthermore, several court cases concerning land disputes are still pending and needing urgent attention to lay such matters to rest.
It is also essential that the activities and operations of lands and housing agents are revisited to ensure an orderly manner of handling the sale of land and rental properties in this country.
Essentially, Minister Bah should thoroughly consider and take serious account of these problems in the land sector.
Mr President, of serious concern also is internal security, which the new minister for Interior is expected to take care of very well.
Nowadays, issues of armed robbery, drug peddling and counterfeiting of money (to the tune of 4 million US dollars recently) are gravely affecting the socio-economic fabric of The Gambia. For instance, few days ago, 633 drug peddlers mainly non-Gambians were arrested, thanks to the vigilance of the Drug Law Enforcement Agency of the Gambia, and the Police, who have been doing a commendable job; to track down such criminals, of recent the arrest of 3 Nigerians in connection with the counterfeit US$4 million. Even the rampant armed robbery is mainly associated with foreign nationals. These issues are a cause for concern to save our nation from detrimental vices or crimes.
We are therefore calling on the new Interior Minister Abdoulie Sanyang, the new IGP Seedy Muctar Touray and the new Immigration Director General Bai Ebrima Mboob to tighten their belts to combat this increasing menace of armed robbery, drug peddling, money counterfeiting and other criminal activities and vices in our society for good.
For the new minister of Energy and Petroleum, Nani Juwara, he is expected to work hard to ensure electricity and water supply is improved upon countrywide.
NAWEC must have a plan B for electricity supply, because as it stands, government spends huge amounts of foreign currencies in maintaining the Turkish electricity company Karpowership and the Senegalese electricity company Senelec. This is unsustainable hence other plans should be in place to forge ahead with national development.
It should however be noted that electricity supply has got better now under the present government than before.
In a similar vein, Tourism and Culture Minister AbdouJobe should come up with good strategies to attract more tourists to The Gambia in order to boost tourism, which is the second largest foreign exchange earner after agriculture. An all-year-round tourism season should be introduced and maintained to derive more from the tourism sector.
Hotel prices/charges should be reasonable and airport tax could be included in the ticket price, instead of having it paid upfront separately.
All these measures have to be taken into consideration to make The Gambia an even more attractive tourism destination, more so as The Gambia is competing with neighbouring countries.
For his part, to start with, the new Information Minister Dr Ismaila Ceesay should visit media houses to discuss with media chiefs the nitty-gritty of the industry to know the biting problems and challenges of the media in order to see how best government could give a helping hand to ensure the Fourth Estate of this country continues to contribute meaningfully to national development.
Vitally, there is a need for government and the media to work harmoniously to support each other as partners in development. We rest our case for now.
Good day!