By: Kebba AF Touray
The Minister of Forestry and Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, Lamin Dibba, last Thursday concluded a five day intensive nationwide tour of four Regions. The tour was organized by the Ministry of Environment and line departments, in collaboration with large scale sustainable Ecosystem Based Adaptation (EBA), Action Against Desertification and CBSDFM project, under the Food and Agricultural Organization FAO. The tour witnessed the presentation of equipment and materials worth D2.6M, to various community and joint forest park managements across the country.
The tour was to visit various sites under his purview and to accord the Minister the opportunity to visit new forestry stations to see the level of work under progress and identify challenges confronting Regional Forestry Offices, as well as hand over thirty PCFMA certificates and equipment worth over D2.6M, to various communities. This is geared towards helping the committee in the safeguarding their forest from bushfires and other illegal activities.
The areas visited include Fort Bullen site in Barra, site to the new forest station in Juffureh, site at Mbapa Mariga, in NBR, site visit to new forest station at Sare Fodigeh in LRR, and the mangrove planting site in Keneba, which supported by the EBA Project.
Speaking at the end of the tour, Minister Dibba expressed appreciation over improved conditions of staff of the aforesaid stations and stressed that his office deems it fitting to construct new stations to house staff of the Ministry; that other new stations in LRR, URR and NBR are under construction, that his Ministry will continue to strengthen the welfare of staff and encourage them to work as expected of them. He pledged to create the conducive environment for them to work in the provinces.
“My Ministry is establishing some nursery that will support in terms of providing seedlings to other catchment areas. I commend the EBA Project for supporting the Ministry in complimenting the efforts of the dry-land project,” he said.
The Minister was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Environment Pateh Jah, Director of Forestry Muhammed Jaiteh, Project Coordinator EBA Project Lamin Ngando, and other Project Directors under the FAO.
