By Tabora Bojang
President Adama Barrow’s deputy political adviser on youth matters has warned civil servants against ‘undermining policies of the government’ saying anyone found wanting will be dealt with.
Saihou Mballow said the government will not allow itself to be saddled with people in the public service who are “bent on going around to sabotage government’s programmes” at a time when it nears completing the National Development Plan.
“This Government is making it clear that it would not take it lightly the issue of civil servants who go around trying to undermine its efforts. There is nowhere in the world, including America and the United Kingdom, where civil servants undermine governments they serve. Right now, the government is trying to complete the National Development Plan, so we will not encourage anybody to undermine the progress that is geared towards enhancing the development of youths in the country because the government would not fall short in taking appropriate actions against any individual found wanting,” Mballow warned.
He made these remarks at the laying of the foundation stone of a multimillion-dalasi mini stadium project to be constructed in Fula Bantang.
Mballow called on the natives to be careful of “people working to sabotage progresses” of the Barrow government, saying if they notice anyone undermining the government, they should report the individual to the governor who will take appropriate actions.
The Fula Bantang mini stadium has been a subject of controversy as a number of sports enthusiasts in CRR complained that the planned stadium should instead be built in Brikama-Ba which has a bigger catchment of sports teams and clubs in addition to its central location as the biggest sporting and commercial centre in the area. The complainants accused the government officials of poor judgment, adding that the Fula Bantang stadium would be a white elephant project with hardly any youth around to make use of it.
But responding to these complaints, Mballow who hailed from Jimara, said: “The people of Fula Bantang are also equally paying taxes like Banjul, Serekunda and Basse. So it is prudent for them to also benefit from the tax that they have been paying for the past decades and this project is one way of doing that.”
