By Fatou Saho
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation Gambia Secretariat and its national partners have begun their first national clean-up exercise on Saturday as part of preparations ahead of the most anticipated summit that The Gambia will host in May.
This exercise, which is to be carried on every OIC impact zone, started at the airport premises.
Hundreds of participants ranging from university students, service men, community members, National Environmental Agency staff, and environmental groups partook in the cleansing, with the aim to keep the country clean ahead of the summit.
Speaking on behalf the Chief Executive Officer of the OIC Yankuba Dibba, the head of brand and communication Nfally Fadera, expressed gratitude to the participants for their presence and turnout at the exercise. He urged them to keep that spirit as it was the beginning and equally reminded them of the importance of the summit and why the activity matters.
He said: “It is not everyday that you get 57 heads of state in a country, it is a once in a life time opportunity and we have this opportunity. We need to make sure we present the best version of ourselves as a country.”
He urged for the continuity of the exercise at community levels and assured the support of OIC and the national taskforce team.
Sulaiman Jatta, the deputy director Gambia Civil Aviation Authority, hailed the exercise as he noted that its success will give credit to Gambia as a country.
For his part, Sheik Alkinky Sanyang, the head of communication at NEA, said it is a home duty that everybody is bond to. He assured the OIC team and other members of NEA’s support to make sure we have a clean and steady environment before the summit.
The chairman of the national task force, Borri Mansa Demba, vowed: “As they meet to say important things about the Islamic Ummah, we will continue with our cleaning until the last person departs”.
