By Kebba AF Touray
Members of the Legislative Committee on Lands and Religion on Tuesday, 15 October 2024 frowned at the absence of the Ministry of Lands at its meeting with the members of the Hajj Commission and Tour Operators.
The members of the Hajj Commission were scheduled to appear before the committee, for the presentation of their activity plan for the 2025 Hajj.
The members expressed vehemently their dismay at the act of the Ministry and resolved that the Clerk would be tasked to send a strong message to the Ministry to that effect.
As lamented by the said committee members, the absence of the Ministry to its interface on Tuesday, was the third time that the Ministry has been paying what they described as deaf ears to their summons to be present in its meetings.
At the kick-off of the interface with the Hajj Commission and tour operators, the committee members observed that neither the Minister nor any of the Permanent Secretaries at the Ministry was present at the interface.
This has prompted the members to take turns on the matter and voice out their displeasure at the situation, which must not be allowed to continue.
The Member for Jimara, Hon. Essa Conteh, told the committee that this is the third time the Ministry is absent.
This, as he puts it to his colleagues, needs to be looked into to ensure that it does not continue.
At this stage, a member of the commission, Alhagie Bai Sainey Secka, inquired from the committee as to whether or not it would be proper for them to proceed with their presentation, despite the fact that the officials of the Ministry were absent.
Member for Lower Badibu, Hon. Kemo Gassama, said that the practice is a routine thing, adding, “I think we need to take a decision on this matter. For the Ministry to have failed up to three times, it is high time that we take a step”.
He added, “I am totally disappointed with the Ministry, and we have powers which we can rely upon to punish whosoever is trying to go against this committee”.
Hon. Alhagie Babou Ceesay said: “We have our standing Orders, and according to section 102 of the orders, it has set up rules that should guide our proceedings as far as summon is concerned.”
The orders, he said, give them powers that are given to the courts as far as summon is concerned.
“It is very clear that we had a written letter through our committee clerk and was communicated to the Ministry, but as far as I know, there is no official communication from the Ministry that is stating the grounds of their absence,” he said.
He also said that according to the Act of the Hajj Commission, under subsection 2, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry shall be the executive officer of the commission and shall be responsible for the implementation of the policy and transactions of the day-to-day business of the commission.
Based on the section, he said it would not be appropriate and right for the committee to proceed to do the presentation in their absence.
“To that effect, we should adjourn to a later date, where we will have officials that are responsible as far as this report is concerned because we might have issues that we will want to raise and bring to the attention of the Ministry,” he suggested.
Subsequently, the committee resolved to reschedule the meeting to the 24 of October 2024, for the presentation by the Hajj Commission to be carried out, in the presence of officials of the Ministry.
