This growing predicament has also fuelled growing discontentment and unrest among citizens in some African countries. Evidently, this is seen in the recent protest and violence across some major cities in Africa, resulting in demonstrations, strikes and the loss of lives.
In view of this reality, it is important for your government to work towards improving the economic situation of Gambians.
Mr President, it would amaze one to realise that the alarming increase in the price of basic food commodities leaves much to be desired. This has forced some underprivileged communities to the brink of malnutrition or other severe challenges. Thus, we call on the government to prioritise essential needs and stop spending significant amounts of money on luxury items and other expenditures deemed irrelevant. Government should endeavour to cut cost on travels, fuel and luxury cars.
Mr President, your government should urgently work towards stabilising inflation rate in the country. The rate at which the dalasi is depreciating against foreign currencies is alarming.
In fact, this serves as an excuse for most business people, especially shop keepers, to continue to inflate the prices of their basic food commodities without justification. Another issue is that, many businessmen are taking advantage of the country’s liberal policies, that is lack of price control, allowing them to hike the prices of food commodities as they see fit at any given time. This has made lives unbearable for disadvantaged communities who always struggle to make ends meet.
Mr President, your government should make it a duty to improve the living condition of the people in the country. This would no doubt help minimise the current realities and hardship most people face in the country.
Mr President, this bring to mindthe need to include in the next budget in December ways to increase the salaries of low-income earners. This will also close the existing gaps in the country’s salary structure, thus allowing low-income earners to address some of the challenges they face. It is sad that most civil servants are extremely challenged in many ways; from high cost of living to high rent, increase in rate of transportation and the list goes on. This daily nightmare has pushed some families to the corner.
Mr President, addressing economic hardship in the country requires a multifaceted approach and commitment that includes government action, international support and local initiatives. This can be achieved by implementing effective economic reforms that would control inflation, stabilise the economy and create a more stable economic environment. There should also be economic diversification in order to reduce the dependency on few key sectors thereby creating a more resilient economic system.
Revitalising the Tourism and Agricultural sectors with improved infrastructure should be the primary focus of your government to help revamp the economy of the country. This would help attract foreign investment, generate revenue, foreign exchange and reduce poverty and food insecurity.
Mr President, we can all agree that internet provides a vast amount of information and gives many a way to connect with people worldwide. An uninterrupted internet access is becoming more essential than ever imagined. As the world becomes more digital, access to the internet should be considered a right, not a privilege, and should be made affordable. However, during the rainy season, there is constant internet interruption in the country, which sometimes delay quality output. Thus, authorities should work towards fixing those existing lapses especially in the rainy season to make internet access not only affordable, but also efficient and effective.
Good day!