By: Kebba AF Touray
Sarja FK Kamateh the Councillor for Foday Kunda Ward has said that he has vowed to judiciously plough back the 60 percent of income geberated in the ward to the electorate of Foday Kunda Ward, Wulli East Constituency.
He said this on Sunday at a meeting of the PDOIS Members at Wellingara Yareh, organized for the party members to select their candidate for the councillorship ahead of the upcoming Local Government Elections slated for March 2023.
“I am committed to ensuring the 60 percent of tax that shall be ploughed back to the people of Foday Kunda Ward will be fully ploughed back to them and that will be a dream come true come rain come shine, because the money is not meant for me but for the taxpayers of Foday Kunda Ward”, he vowed.
He reported that the first project he in collaboration with his Ward Development Committee have executed was the construction of D600,000 water bore hole for the village of Wellingara Yareh, which was to provide portable drinking water for the villagers.
He said that the projects implemented by him were village driven, stating that he and his committee have requested from the villages to highlight what were their urgent and priority issues, and during that consultative process each village in his ward have identified three priority issues.
“These were the issues that I have incorporated in my strategic plan and submitted to the Basse Area Council. The council went round to see for itself the villages that were in dire need of those projects such as water project and have chosen Wellingara Yareh”, he narrated.
He reported further that the works implemented during his first five years, include the road rehabilitation work on Macca Massireh- Wellingara highway all the way to Kolly Kunda, and road linking Macca Massireh and Ell Kunda, all of which were financed by the revenue collected in his ward.
“A total of Twenty-Five Thousand Dalasi (D250,000) is what should be ploughed back to my ward in form of services, such as provision of bore holes and major road rehabilitation. Outside the revenue generated from tax, I have also secured funding from partners and most of them responded positively”, he said.
He also told the convergence that they have opened an invitation to all the people in the whole of URR, to write and seek scholarship, and one of those that are benefitting from the scholarship package is a native of Bohum Kunda, who is currently pursuing his education at the Gambia College.
“We have spent over Eighteen Thousand Dalasi (D18000) to finance some works at the Foday Kunda Hospital. We have also provided maintenance work for the local hand pumps in Wellingara and Murreh Kunda villages, maintenance for a well in Macca Masirreh, renovation of Briffu Day Care Center. We have also spent Eight Thousand Dalasi (D8000) for the maintenance of a bore hole in Bohum Kunda. All these works were financed from the tax paid by the electorate in Foday Kunda Ward”, he told the convergence.
He also said that they are currently executing a project to provide women horticultural garden for the villages of Demba Kunda Fula and Mandinka, Kambelleng and Madina Nyantamba.
He assured, “I will make sure that I live up to the expectations and the trust and confidence that you have in me”.
He expressed gratitude to the electorate of Wuli East and the entire PDOIS Membership for their trust and confidence reposed on him to contest and serve as councillor under the party’s ticket.
