Dear sir,
There is no way that a country so bountiful like the Gambia must spend a significant amount of its budget to import food products like rice and vegetables.
The river Gambia stretch in all corners of the country. Halfway towards the east all is characterised by fresh waters. Approximately 100km inwards. How many farmlands can be cultivated in this area.
The Agric sector should lay down policies for government to invest massively on this area and serve as youth empowerment. Youths are talking about empowerment when most are liabilities in their own societies living a ghetto life, from the “Barada” to the bed or burglary or even weed smoking to making unimaginable dreams characterised by insults…
The rain waters can also be trapped as reservoirs that will be strategically located through a proper drainage system and used by women gardeners such as the Banjulinding women garden project or other similar projects.
The lands own by peasant farmers are willingly seized by private estate agents leaving these farmers with no option and hope in life. Thereby increasing the dependency ratio on breadwinners.
There are cities in the world that have populations of up to millions. The whole Gambia can fit in the Greater Banjul area not even beyond Brikama.
The government have a long way to go as the country needs saviour if not the generations coming will have nothing to boast of from its ancestors and ourselves will leave no clean legacy.
Ousman Bah
Fajikunda
Corruption or dangerous driving
Dear editor,
Can we please take a moment to reflect on the tragic accidents that occur in the past months? Brikama Nyambai forest: A truck collided with a passenger car. At least three people dead.
Kabakor Village, Foni Bintang Karanai: A Mercedes Benz intruded into a container truck: Three dead others seriously injured.
Somita, Foni Berefet: A truck ran over a police officer resulting to his dead.
Kafuta Forest 26/07/2017: A pickup truck hit a truck loaded with Timber resulting to the dead of a man and his wife.
Brikama Castle 26/07/2017: A truck hit a taxi near the castle petrol station. And many more….
If this was because of a crime, the streets would have been infested with patrol teams trying to apprehend culprits and put this madness to an end. A truck park on the road without any reflectors installed that results to collision and deaths cannot be called an accident. I call it “intent to murder”. A speeding truck approaching a police station just to see a driver got his head out the window screaming “AMUT BRAKE”!!! Having the police officers running to safety is “intent to murder” since he failed to stop as soon as he can. A truck loaded with timbers without a back light is intending to commit murder. A car with one head light on speeding in the night is intending to commit murder since it only seems to be a motorbike. The point is, so long we see accidents as natural, more people will continue to die.
We live in a country where thieves appear in the newspapers daily on trials but hardly do we read of drivers being charged with murder or manslaughter.
What is the interior ministry and the police doing about this? If a car can travel from Kalagi to Brikama with no back light in the night, then I am tempted to say the police are not doing their job. Stop taking bribes and do your work! In fact, I dare say the corruption in Gambia is not only the officers but the people. It is us who when an officer stops our driver on the highway for neglecting traffic rules jump out appealing to them to release the car. We sometimes call them names, accuse them of doing this because they want money.
To the interior minister, IGP and Gambians in general, let us not assume nothing is happening. The lives you save, can be your own. Entering a car now to work is as if you are going to a battle field. You only hope that you come back safe.
Concerned citizen
