By: Kebba AF Touray
The Public Petition Committee of the National Assembly has disclosed their findings and recommendations regarding the petition filed by concerned staff of the Gambia Tourism Board (GTBoard).
The recommendation calls for further investigations to be conducted on the GTBoard.
The Committee resolved that the Ministry of Tourism should reprimand the Chairman of the contracts committee at the Gambia Tourism Board (GT Board), OusainouSenghore, for misleading the contract committee members.
The committee reached this decision after investigating a petition filed by concerned staff of the GTBoard concerning irregularities in the Tourism sector. The Chairperson, Honourable SuwaibouTouray on Friday 19 July 2024, tabled the resolutions of the committee before the plenary.
On the eco-lodges contract, Honourable Touray said the committee resolved that the Chairman of the Contracts Committee (Mr. Ousainoun Senghore) must be reprimanded by the Ministry of Tourism for misguiding the contracts committee members by giving a wrong analysis of the financial performances, which eventually affected the evaluation process.
He said that the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) must further investigate who gave the authority to build a hotel that cost several million of dalasi at Barra, which was eventually abandoned. FPAC is asked to report to the National Assembly on or before 1 December 2024.
“The Gambia Tourism Board must be reprimanded for allocating the contracts for all the lots to one bidder, which is in contravention to the GPPA’s recommendations,” he said.
The committee also resolved that the FPAC must further investigate the GPPA’s reason for approving GT Board’s single sourced contract instead of allowing for competition among bidders. FPAC is given up to 1 December 2024 to report back.
“Henceforth, the committee resolved that the Government must cease awarding contracts to the Lerr Group due to serious under-performance on Eco-lodges and other Government projects,” he said.
On allocations of land in the TDA, “The committee resolved that the Executive must setup an Independent Commission that would be mandated to look into how land is allocated to investors from 2017 to date within the TDA. FPAC must monitor this and report back to the Assembly on or before 1st December, 2024.”
HonourableTouray said the committee also resolved that the Auditor General must appoint a Quantity Surveyor to look at all the investment project applications and advice on the total investment quoted, and any understatement of cost must be revisited and matched with the investment. The Auditor General is ordered to report to the Assembly by 1 December 2024.
Touray said the Committee agreed that the Inspector General of Police must investigate the Priority Leisure Group company, who were allocated a huge land measuring 107m x 75m x 42m x 47m x 76m at the center of the TDA (prime land at Duplex area. This, he said, is due to the fact that the list of the shareholders as per the requirements was not indicated in the Memorandum and Article of Association and the amount stated as the amount for investment (D27.5 Million ) is considered too low for such investment.
“The IGP must investigate the land issued to MOAB Capital Ltd as a lease was acquired by the investor before paying the 5% levy. The Auditor General must conduct proper findings and prepare a detailed report on all the revenues collected from the levies, and how it is expended and report back to FPAC on or before 1st December, 2024,” he said.
Regardingthe Governance Structure of the GT Board, Touray said the committee advises the Minister of Tourism not to give directives to the Chairman of the Governing body as provided for in the Act, and the Governing Body, who informs the Minister to endorse in accordance with the GT Board Act 2011, must sanction all activities.
“The Ombudsman must investigate the manner of the dissolution of the Governing Council and how the dismissal of the Council’s Chairman, Mr. Abdoulie Bax Touray was conducted, and report back to FPAC on or before 1st October 2024,” Touray said.
Concerning the GT Board Head Office complex contractual agreement, he said the committee has made a resolution for the IGP to investigate the initial contract of the Head Office of the GT Board at the Tropics. It also tasked the police to investigate the contract signing of the new Head Office built by the Construct Company Ltd, and report back to FPAC on or before 1 December 2024.
On fuel allocation for the Minister for Tourism, “the committee’s resolution is that the GT Board must immediately stop fuel supply to the Minister and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Culture on a weekly basis. Supply of fuel to them must only be made if they are on the errands of GT Board,” he said.
On staff employment matters, honourable Touray said the committee resolved that the Select Committee on Tourism and the Ombudsman must monitor and ensure that all the senior staff deployed and wrongfully terminated/dismissed because of this petition are recalled to the Head Office and reinstated to their former posts with immediate effect. He said the Select Committee and the Ombudsman must report to the Assembly on the implementation of this resolution on or before 1 September 2024.
“The Auditor General must institute a staff audit, to commence from January, 2017 to December 2023 to ascertain the way and manner appointments and promotions are conducted at GTB and report back to the FPAC on or before 1st December 2024,” Touray said.
