Ocean Villa Hotel welcomes Barrow’s Presidency

By Samsideen Ceesay The staff of Ocean Villa Heights Hotel on Saturday held a reception in honour of President Adama Barrow at the hotel complex in Brufut. According to the hotel staff the party was meant to demonstrate their appreciation of the new president and his government. In his opening statement, on behalf of the hotels proprietor, Paula Lancaster said: “The time has come for us all to encourage investment in the Gambia, both foreign and domestic. We have a New Gambia born through the struggle and commitment of its people and the world will soon recognise all that our beautiful country has to offer. “We are under no illusion that this will be an easy road, President Barrow and the government face a difficult task, but with hard work, commitment and the new hope that they have brought to the country I feel we should all embrace this opportunity with open minds,” she said. “I personally think that your campaign gave the Gambian people the strength and confidence they needed to stand up and be counted which was inspirational to us all,” she added. “Here at Ocean Villa Heights we are proud that we are able to continue to improve and develop our little hotel and help showcase the diversity, beauty and enthusiasm of this unique country,” she said. Raffie Diab, MD, R&A Company limited said that he was happy to celebrate the achievements together with the hotel staff, saying “this victory is a victory for the Gambian people. We have to celebrate, because we have been living in tyranny for 22 years under Yahya Jammeh.” “I hope this will usher a new hope for Gambians to use as an opportunity to reflect on what is needed to be done in the coming years. It is not going to be easy; we should be very patient, work hard and sacrifice for the best of our beloved country,” he said. “I am going to engage in other activities like in the civil society movement to help educate people by telling them what democracy is,” he concluded.]]>