By Assan Bah
As the President’s 2024 Meet the People’s Tour to get first-hand information from citizens across the country commences in Bantanding Wollof in the Jokadu District of the North Bank Region (NBR), the main discourse of this meeting was centred on the ‘poor groundnut harvest’ from this year’s cropping season. All those who spoke at the meeting lamented extremely poor harvest from their groundnut farms.
In his welcome statement, Ousman Jallow who spoke on behalf of the Alkalo, appealed for the upgrade of the community’s school to a senior secondary. He said their students trek seven kilometres to reach the closest senior secondary school. He also appealed for access to clean drinking water.
Alpha Mariam Khan, the Chief of Jokadu District commended the president for providing electricity to his district. He, however, reported to the president that there is failure in this year’s cropping season, particularly the groundnut, and appealed for the government’s support.
“We have put all that we have in the soil expecting to have a better outcome but there is no groundnut. And this is what we depend on as farmers,’’ the Chief said. The Chief’s demands also included the provision of good roads because no road has been constructed in Jokadu since 1987.
“The Kuntaya hospital is currently operating without an ambulance because the ambulance has a problem. We also want the Dasilameh and Karantaba health centres to be upgraded,’’ the Chief said in his demands.
Amat Sarr, the National People’s Party’s (NPP) Regional Chairperson, also echoed similar demands saying: “Even though the government has done its part in ensuring that fertilizer was affordable and accessible to all farmers, and we [farmers] have also done what we can, groundnut production has woefully failed.’’
He appealed for more support to make farmers’ lives easy, noting that apart from the insufficient rains, their farm produce gets contaminated with pests and diseases.
“Inadequate medicines have been a common cry in hospitals in NBR. We want the government to support the hospitals with adequate medications,’’ Amat Sarr said.
While re-echoing the poor produce of the groundnut crop, Anta Secka on behalf of the women of the district, appealed for more gardens with proper fencing, boreholes, and seeds saying women mainly depend on these gardens.
Modou Lamin Sarr, on behalf of the Youth, thanked the government for signing the migration agreements between them and the Kingdom of Spain and Saudi Arabia. This, according to him, will mitigate the issue of irregular migration in the country.
Responding to the issues raised by various speakers at the meeting, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security, Dr. Demba Sabally, acknowledged the concerns raised by the farmers and said his ministry will study the factors responsible for the poor groundnut harvest.
He however said that their projection shows that the harvest of this year’s cropping season is better than that of last year; that over 24,000 hectares have been cultivated this year compared to more than 178,000 hectares last year.
‘‘Our projection also shows that the harvest for both maize and millet has increased,’’ the Minister said. The Minister however reminded the gathering that the President has provided seeds for farmers across the country and said the government has provided support to communities in Jokadu, Lower and Upper Niumi.
“In Sitanuku the government provided them with a thirteen-hectare rice field with fertilizer, together with Jurunku, Kerr Ngonage, and Karantaba, among other communities. The Government has also provided twelve thousand kilograms of rice in Lower Niumi,’’ the Minister said.
On women’s gardens, the Minister reported that nine gardens are being constructed by the GIRAV project in NBR, and said these gardens are being constructed in Ndoffan, Tambana, Sare Chikam, Kerr Omar Saine, Ndofen, and Touba villages.
Amat NK Bah, the Minister for Local Government and Lands challenged religious leaders to preach more about one’s role and responsibility in the development of his or her country, and the government’s responsibilities to the youth. He said the youth surrender themselves to the government and therefore the government owes them a responsibility. He called on the youth to learn skills to make them marketable anywhere they go and promised that the government would increase TVET centres across the country to help young people to learn skills.
He warned Chiefs, Alkalolus, and Area Councils against the selling of land without the due process being followed, and said failure to do so, will result in the government’s nullification of the transaction.
“Let us guard our lands for your children because we have limited land size in the country,” he advised and continued: “The president gave land for investment to GIEPA with policies. If one wants to come and work on land, let the land be leased in the name of the community and given to GIEPA. After the expiry of the lease period, the land can be reclaimed by the community or the owners,’’ he said.
According to him, part of the conditions of such land acquisition includes the contracting of community members for any work on the project, provided they can perform the work given to them.
“Two years back, the president instructed anyone who sells up to one hectare of land, to follow the due process, which is by going through the governor’s office, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Local Government and Lands, and then to the Alkalo and Chief,’’ Mr. Bah said.
On his part, President Adama Barrow said without dialogue, development would be difficult and promised the people that he would look at all the concerns they have raised. I am employed by you people to do a job for you,’’ President Barrow said. He, however, said that they cannot do it all at once because ‘‘we have one budget for all sectors for the same year, and everything starts with a plan.’’ He said his government was able to negotiate with both the Spanish and Saudi governments to take some of the youth to these countries to work and come back.
“We want our people to go out and work, and come back because our power is on the youth. I want you to be careful even though we want our people to go and work and help their families. Be very careful. You [youth] are our power. If we take all our youth to Spain, there will be a problem in our work sector. That is why everyone cannot go. People will sometimes only want to go abroad because their friends are there, with the concept that going to Europe is everything. Saying that so and so has built his or her compound because they live abroad. But how many are there and cannot build a house?’’ the president said.
He said it is hard work that matters irrespective of one’s location. and challenged everyone to come together and develop the country.
“I was in Europe but after three years, I decided to come back to the Gambia, which many of my co-workers thought I was not in my right senses,’’ the president said.
He assured that efforts are underway to ensure that the concerns raised in the hospitals are addressed. He however said that it is expensive to run a hospital.
“Every year, we have a budget for medications for sectors in the country. How can we estimate how many people will get ill in the year? That is why everyone cannot have medicine in hospitals.’’ the president said. He reported that the government is working on a project to provide health insurance for all citizens.
On the demands for good roads, the president said: “We are working on road projects throughout the country. However, road construction is expensive. The cheapest road construction costs 20 million Dalasi per kilometre. Knowing the importance of good road infrastructure was one of our priority areas when we came into office,” he said. He said the government paid from 30 to 40 Million Dalasi per kilometer on the Hakalang road but promised to complete the road by next year.
“The work is difficult because it [Hakalang Road] has up to 75 bridges and the area has a lot of water. We have other road projects in the pipeline and Jokadu, Lower and Upper Niumi are part of this project,’’ the president said. He also pledged to upgrade the community’s School to grade twelve level and concluded with a call for unity and development for the country.
