By: Kebba AF Touray
The Member of Parliament for Tumana, Foday NM Drammeh, has raised concerns on the state of security in the country and has in the strongest possible terms denounced an Executive remark that was made at a rally recently.
This he said, poses a threat to the citizenry and called for it to be condemned by the citizenry. Drammeh made this known yesterday during the adjournment debate at the legislative house in Banjul.
He also frowned at the procurement of the hot water cannons, saying it is a threat to the citizenry. He added that rather than purchasing them, the monies could have been used to buy fire tenders, so as to make the work of fire fighters easier.
He also condemned the remark that was made at a rally that live bullets would be fired on demonstrators. This he said, “is a threat to the citizenry, it is very bad and is what we fought for the past 22 years and we don’t want a replica of that in this country anymore”.
He added, “People should be free, let us dialogue and do whatever we want to do and they should ensure peace and order in the country, but those in authority should not threaten our people with live bullets. This should not happen in the country, when the people in authority are standing at platforms and nobody condemns it”.
“There are series of security threats in the country and nobody is paying attention to them and we are paying deaf ears to them. My vehicle has been attacked last year and this year and there were some stolen properties. If that is happening to me as a Member of Parliament, what about an ordinary Gambian?” he asked.
He decried the challenges his constituency is faced with, among them is the lack of road communication, which hampers the day to day activity of the constituency in terms of accessibility to markets and schools, and most recently the water shortage that is affecting a community called Kular Demba Nyima as a result of Wednesday’s storm.
Drammeh recommended for the building of new seed stores and rehabilitation of the existing ones countrywide, to mitigate seed shortage as a result of post-harvest lost. This he said, will help farmers in keeping their seeds in a safe place, so as to protect them against infestations.
He also implored the Interior Minister to look at the issue of fire tenders, which he said will enhance the operation of fire fighters in execution of their service at the time of need. He lamented the ill treatments that are meted out on the fire fighters, such as stabbing and stoning them during the exercise of their functions, due largely to misconception.
