Have the President, the Minister for Environment, the Minister of Tourism and Members of the National Assembly of late visited the beaches of Sanyang and the coastal area?
Perhaps the party stalwarts in those areas and the VDCs should extend an invitation – a walk about political rally or joint working visit. That could be a novelty but an interesting experience of ‘seeing is believing’. With double assurance, the destruction is very well executed.
Or could refusing to take up such a challenge be a show of inertia to doing something about the fate of the environment and of the affected communities? Or dare you visit?
There was a well-publicized show or presence for floods in Banjul and other areas (and of the ROOTS rice project). Please try the beaches too with cameras rolling and loads of sunshine.
In times of crisis, it is good time for politicians to engage more frequently with the public….check what counterparts do in other parts of the globe. Sitting tight lipped on issues at crisis level and using proxy responses are never the best solution.
A personal response to and overseeing crisis situations is part of confidence building which can go a long way to dampen raw sentiments. Too long a silence and a lack of visibility or presence can be seen as condescending and a lack of care for the concerns of the people.
Proposal – engage a dredging company to start back filling the affected areas (it was done at Warders Beach area). Expensive, yes very expensive. But a creatively formulated project could attract funding.
By the way dredging is the future for the supply of sand for the construction industry. Inland and coastal sand mining is destructive.
In passing – it may be interesting to examine the ownership, shareholdings and accounts movements of the companies mining along the coast – well, just a fleeting thought on transparency and out of some curiosity. See you soon at the beach.
Just thinking aloud.
Lamino Lang Coma
Brikama
