By Ndey Sowe
The ECOWAS National Office under the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment (MOTIE) on Thursday 14 September signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Mansakonko Area Council and the Wellingaraba Village Development Committee (VDC).
The agreement, which was signed at the Ministry’s Conference Hall in Banjul, is meant to facilitate and implement the ECOWAS Cross-Border Cooperation Support Programme through the modernization of Welligaraba Lumo.
However, the objective of the ECOWASCross-Border Cooperation Support Programme (ECBCSP) is to strengthen cooperation among Communities, States, and Markets in order to deepen regional integration.
The Wellingaraba Lumo Modernisation Project is part of the Ministry of Trade’s commitment to ensuring that the Wellingaraba Lumo modernization process is successfully piloted for the nationwide Lumo modernization agenda of the Ministry.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr Lamin Dampha, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade, thanked the ECOWAS National Platform for Cross-Border Cooperation-Free Movement and Migration (CBC-LCM) for supporting the project and the Mansakonko Area Council and the Wellingaraba VDC for partnering with the Ministry for the implementation of the project.
“We need support from each and every stakeholder in this process because this is the first project that we are implementing as far as this project is concerned thus we must make sure that this is successful so that the wider communities in The Gambia can also benefit,” he urged.
The Deputy Permanent Secretary of MoTIE, Mr Abdoulie Jammeh, affirmed that the project is a driving project that will help people who are around the community and beyond The Gambia to intensify production because there is already a market for them and this is why this particular project is important to them. In thanking the Mansakonko Area Council and the Wellingaraba VDC for the commitment they have demonstrated, he assured them of their support and to strengthen the collaboration.
For his part, Isamiala Dans, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, said Willigaraba is a vibrant Lumo community, adding this is a community-based project. He urged the community to deliver because if the project is successful, it will bring more development in the region.
Landing Sanneh, the Chairman of Mansakonko Area Council, informed the Ministry that they have the capacity to do the job and therefore they will collaborate for the successful implementation of the project.
