They made the remark at a meeting held at Dobo village in Central Badibou as the president and delegation continued day two of the nationwide presidential tour.
Speaking at the meeting, Tamsir Bah, the alkalo of the village, thanked President Barrow for embarking on the tour with the desire of listening to the needs of rural dwellers. He thus called on the president to help them address the water shortage that the village has encountered and continues to encounter. “If there is a fire incident in the village, it would be difficult to control it due to the lack of water in the village. We are also appealing to the president to help us with electricity,” he said
The village alkalo also called on the Gambian leader to help them in upgrading the village Lower Basic School to Upper and Senior Secondary School.
“The school is serving a lot of communities within the area and now it is congested with limited classrooms. Our children are going to the nearby village for schooling and they sometimes encounter a lot of difficulties. In fact, sometimes they get attacked by unknown people when returning from school,” he said.
“Sometimes our children close early from school and as a result of fear of being attacked while returning, we the parents have to go and get them back,” he claimed.
He called on the Gambian leader to help them and construct the road, starting from Dobo to Salikenne and to Sare Pateh both in the Central Badibou. “We also want the government to help us in providing cattle drinking points within the area.”
For his part, Mamadi Jallow, from Kerr Jatta Wolof, urged the government to help and protect their 10-kilometre forest park. “We want the government to help the volunteers in the forest with mobility so that they could continue to protect and monitor the forest against bush fire.”
He also urged the president to help and construct the Njawara to Minteh Kunda Road and Dobo to Kerr Pateh Road, claiming that these roads are in a bad condition.
Fatou Drammeh of Nawreru village, also emphasised the need for the government to help upgrade the primary school. “Parents are left with no option than to go and collect their kids even before school closes especially in the afternoon. We believe it is not safe to leave our kids there until at the time of school closing,” she postulated.
After listening to concerns raised by inhabitants of the area, President Barrow renewed his government's resolve in addressing the welfare of Gambians.
“My government is working tirelessly in addressing the challenges Gambians continue to encounter, and providing them with a good road network is at the center stage of my government development agenda.”
“We currently have over 100 boreholes that will be distributed countrywide. These are industrial boreholes that have the capacity to serve a lot of communities. I can assure you all that work on these boreholes will commence early next year.”
The presidential tour, he went on, is to enable him to listen to the concerns of Gambians and get first-hand information on issues affecting them. “We are here for national development and we are working towards that direction.”
Barrow further urged inhabitants of the area to pay their rates and taxes and on time with a view to enabling the government to continue its development aspiration. “If our taxes are paid on time, we will continue the infrastructural development in the country and we will not heavily depend on donors,” he posited.
The president and delegations also visited the 16 kilometres Banni to Salikenne Road which is currently under construction.
Joanna Senghore, the Site Engineer, assured the road will be completed early next year, adding: “The road started from Banni to Salikenne and it will be coming back to Njaba Kunda. We are currently working on pavement layers and I can assure you that the road will be completed in 2024.”
