By Amadou Manjang
The National Bakers Union has set out to regularise and standardise bakeries to ensure clean and healthy bread production.
Bread is one of the most consumed foods in the Gambia apart from rice, therefore, the bakers play a very important role in the country.
The Secretary General of the National Bakers Union Lamin Dibba said the core mandate of the union is to regularise and standardise bakeries in the country. He said this statement during the congress of the union on Saturday at Q City.
He said that the Bakers Union will ensure that the loaves of bread have the right weight and are produced in a hygienic way that will ensure they’re healthy and fit for consumption. He further said they have a crucial role to play in standardising bread production.
“We are ready to partner in the interest of the nation and the consumer,’’ he added.
He added that they have toured the country to visit bakeries, check conditions of bakeries as well as register the bakeries. He said they will be having a dialogue on the issues.
Secretary Dibba further said that the bakers are contributing to the food basket of the country.
He said the Union won’t segregate bakers based on their nationalities but are only concerned about people who are contributing to the breadbasket of the Gambia.
“We acknowledge anyone who contributes to the food basket of the country,” he said.
The President of National Bakers’ Union has condemned the impromptu raids by immigration officers in bakeries at odd hours to arrest the bakers.
“We have seen situations where migration officers’ bang into bakeries during odd hours around 11 pm and find out workers mixing the flour and they will stop the production to take the workers away,” he said during its recent assembly.
Most of Gambia’s bakers are foreigners who are constantly harassed by the immigration officers.
He further added that the act is affecting bread production in the country.
‘And we frown upon this,’ he said
He said the Bakers Union will engage the immigration officers to address the issue.
‘We want to put an end to this,’ he said.
He called on immigration officers to desist from such acts while calling on its foreign members to make sure they have all the relevant documents they need in the country to avoid such acts.
The National Bakers Union is formed to bring all the ‘Tapalapa’ Association and the ‘Senfur’ Association together as bread producers. The Union elected its first executive during their national conference at Q City Conference.
Speaking at the congress, the Elected-president Amadou J. Jallow said the creation of the union is a turning point for bakers in the Gambia. He said they are facing a lot of challenges and the union will help them in addressing those challenges.
He also reiterated that they will ensure that bread consumed in the country is healthy for consumption. He said they would ensure that they put systems in place that will ensure hygiene and cleanliness in all bakeries.
‘Hygiene and cleanliness have to be paramount in bread production,’ he said.
The representative of Gambia Competition Consumer Protection Commission at the event, Lamin K. Saidy told the bakers to encourage healthy competition among themselves and admit their unionism.
He told them to desist from price fixing on bread because it is prohibited by the Gambian constitution.
