By: Kebba AF Touray
Honourable Suwaibou Touray, the National Assembly Member for Wuli East, has called on the Gambia Government to create a national troupe in the country. He mentioned this during the recently ended adjournment debate held on Wednesday, 24th July 2024 at the National Assembly.
Honourable Touray said the Gambia used to have a vibrant national troupe, but it died a natural death. He added the troupe used to represent The Gambia abroad.
The lawmaker said the troupe was a source of employment for many Gambians, but some of the artists have been reduced to beggars. He added that the Gambia has a lot of talent, but the talents of the young people are not being fully harnessed. He stated that artists deserve to live a dignified life and this is why the Government should be interested in supporting them (artist). One of the ways the government can employ to support artist is by creating an inclusive and diverse national troupe, he added.
Honourable Touray said some of the institutions (departments/agencies) do not take resolutions of the National Assembly with seriousness. He added that a lot of state resources is invested in the National Assembly to perform oversight functions.
He asserted that the objective of oversight is to ensure that national resources are not misused or mismanaged and that corruption is minimised; that failure to take the work of the National Assembly seriously would mean that they too are contributing to the wastage of scarce resources.
Hon. Touray emphasised that if resolutions are passed, the National Assembly must ensure that they take steps to make follow-ups to ensure that the decisions are implemented diligently.
Touray called on the Government to work with the Senegalese Government to improve cross-border trading – to make it easy for people to trade across the borders by removing the restrictions.
Hon. Touray requested information from the Minister responsible for construction to state the causes of delay in the construction of the road linking Baja Kunda and Boro Kanda Kassay up to the riverside at Pirai Tenda, which was part of the 2023 national budget.
Touray also commended the Government for deploying paramilitary personnel to Macca Masireh to curb numerous security challenges such as burglary and even murder. He said the cases of burglaries, murders, drug absuses, animal rustling and other crimes have not gone down. He added that they want the Government to establish a police station there. He stated that the incidents of crime in his area have increased. He mentioned that several shops in his community, Sutukoba, experienced break and enter. He said if a police station is built there, in partnership with the people of the area, they will be able to work together to minimise the incidents of crime.
He also informed the Minister of Environment that people are indiscriminately cutting down trees. He called on the Government to take measures to protect the trees. He called for adequate support for the Department of Forestry, including provision of motorbikes, uniforms, and better remuneration. He also advocated for the protection of wildlife like hippos.
