By Amadou Jadama
The Minister of Transport, Works and Infrastructure has called on Gambians particularly, the youths, to participate in the national development rather than making unnecessary criticism against President Adama Barrow and his government.
Ebrima Sillah made this call on Wednesday in an interview with The Standard in Basse as he concluded a nationwide tour inspecting roads projects.
He stated: “I can tell you that The Gambia has the cheapest consumer prices of goods and services than any other country in the region. If you are always criticising the cost of living, what are you doing for yourself to contribute to the reduction of what you are criticising? There is no where in this world where they have been able to defeat hunger and high prices when everybody sits at home and don’t want to work.’
“Just go to our construction sites. You would hardly see Gambians working there. The majority of those working there are all foreign nationals and they are being paid a minimum of D700. What are our Gambian youths and others doing? We have to speak the uncomfortable truth here. Go to all these project sites, have you seen many Gambians there? The government is spending billions of dalasis to do these projects, and everything is going away in terms of labour cost, because people don’t want to work. Rather than always sitting and criticising, let us all go and work. Even for us the ministers, at the weekend, we go and do other things that would support the development of this country. Some ministers have farms where they used to go and work.
“Look you cannot be sitting at one place criticising the government for corruption and yet you are sitting doing nothing. Those of you who are accusing them of corruption, do you know how hard they are working to make ends meals. Let people stop pettiness.”
Commenting on the ongoing road construction, Minister Sillah further charged that the government is not neglecting other sectors in the country as claimed by some critics, saying the roads are as important as any other projects in this country.
“If you don’t have roads you would not have access to health facilities, education facilities and the basic services like markets. Once you build roads, people are encouraged and inspired to undertake development activities in terms of building new houses and other facilities around these roads. Evidentially also, roads are critical in any country’s overall socio-economic, national development process and national security issues. Because when there are bad roads some of the security service vehicles, and even the essential services like the fire services would not be able to access critically needed people who are supposed to be served by the security forces. Therefore, having roads will definitely minimise challenges. Maybe, those critics don’t understand what the development process is all about, “he said.
He added: “Most of these critics don’t even read and they don’t understand what they are talking about, and they do not even bother to fact check. It is very easy to sit in your comfort zone, and criticise other people who are putting their sweat and blood on the line to make sure that people of this country are served. Those people are doubters and they will ever remain doubtful about anything that any government does, not only about President Adama Barrow,” Minister Sillah charged.
