The issues discussed included; “transportation predicament for those at the Faraba, prolonged delays in the clearance of students on government scholarship among others”.
During the discussion, the student body conveyed their profound frustration and disappointment of UTG students who have been left stranded due to the ‘unavailability of buses for commuting to Faraba Campus despite the start of lectures.’
“It was also brought to the notice of the Minister that, the delays in clearing students on government scholarship have caused significant hardship, preventing such students from accessing the portal for course registration and therefore impeding their timely continuance of academic activities.”
Prof Pierre Gomez, on his part, disclosed that his ministry has already taken concrete steps to resolve those urgent concerns, adding: “My ministry has formally written to the UTG management, directing them to immediately clear all students on government scholarships.”
Minister Gomez assured that his ministry will engage the Gambia Transport Service Company (GTSC) the following week, to discuss timely deployment of buses to Faraba in order to address the transportation crisis.
However, Minister Gomez emphasised the ‘impossibility of allocating buses for students from Kombo South or Banjul to Faraba as this could not be covered in the 36 million annual government transport subsidy for UTG students.”
