By: Kebba AF Touray
Hon. Sunkary Badgie, member for Foni Brefet said Wednesday that even though road accidents are claiming lives in the country, President has not outlined the efforts his Government was making to mitigate such fatal accidents.
Hon. Badgie made this remark while reacting to the President’s State of the Nation Addessm2020 delivered at the National Assembly in Banjul on Wednesday 23rd September 2020.
He said: “I would have loved to see the concrete steps that the government intends to take in terms of reducing road accidents, by way of installing CCTVs and other traffic gadgets to contain the menace.”
He said: “This is because road accident is a grave concern to the whole country in general especially my constituency”.
He said accidents are claiming lots of lives in the country, particularly in his constituency and West Coast Region”.
On Higher Education, he said the issue of Ndemban skill center has been mentioned severally, but that a lot needed to be done on the issue. He called on the government for a timely renovation of the structure, saying “the more it takes, the more dilapidated it becomes”.
The delay in the renovation will incur the government an extra cost and that there is need for better plan coupled with a time frame for the completion of the skills center, he added . He said once completed, the center will provide opportunities for the youth of the country to learn skills and be able to participate in the socio-economic development of the country.
On Lands and Regional Government: he said the decision taken by the Department of Community Development to enhance centralized structures and support community based organizations, is a welcomed move.
He added that in order for decentralization to take its rightful part in the country, there is need to enhance and capacitate the decentralized structures (that is Village Development Committees and Ward Development Committees).
On Environment and Climate, he said: “the government’s plan to come up with a waste management bill is a step in the right direction, as waste management is one major challenge faced by the Councils. The Councils cannot do it alone and the participation of the government and community are needed to manage our waste.”
He argued: “until proper strategies and policies are put in place to ensure waste management from our homes with proper waste disposal methods, the issue of waste will remain a nightmare in this country. In this era of COVID-19, I enjoin my fellow Gambians to be united with one heart to be able to fight and defeat the pandemic in the country”.
