By Kebba AF Touray
The Member of Parliament for Wuli East Constituency, Hon. Suwaibou Touray, has concluded an eight-day tour of his Constituency which commenced on the 28th of December 2024.
As a routine activity, the Wuli East NAM visited his constituents to inform them of the developments and decisions taken by Parliament and the Government, including the annual budget estimates, and to receive information from the constituents for onward transmission to the Government. The visit also assessed the impact of projects in beneficiary communities.
Reporting on the visit, Hon. Touray told Foroyaa that he has visited over twenty communities that have incomplete projects related to water and the ROOTS project regarding community gardens.
“I have also visited health facilities, farms, and disabled persons and I have also participated in youth activities such as the football final in Sutukoba, and celebrations marking the victory of “Touray Sita FC” in the village,” he said.
Reporting on his findings, Hon. Touray said farmers in Wuli East have reservations about the way and manner the trade season is going.
He said farmers are unhappy that they have to travel to Basse to receive their monies through QMoney transfers which costs them nothing less than D300.00; that others said they do not even have what they call a ‘WhatsApp’ phone and have to entrust someone to collect their monies on their behalf.
Hon. Touray said farmers expressed concerns regarding seed nuts for the next rainy season because this year’s groundnut produce have not fully grown to maturity and said this will affect seed quality. Hon. Touray said farmers appealed to the government for support to acquire better seeds for the 2025 rainy season.
On government projects such as the ROOTS-supported gardens, Hon. Touray said there are teething challenges such as the provision of water at the Sutukoba women’s garden while work at Foday Kunda women’s garden appears to have stalled. He said the Baja Kunda / Boro Kanda Kasseh road project under the Ministry of Agriculture, has not still commenced.
Regarding the rural electrification project, Hon. Touray said people are anxiously waiting for its completion. He said this is a welcome development because Wuli is the hottest area in the country during the dry season, and that the project work is progressing well.
However, he said the issue of compensation for those whose farmlands have been affected remains unresolved for some farmers while other communities complain of being left out.
On the issue of health delivery within the constituency, Hon. Touray expressed mixed feelings and said: “Baja Kunda Health facility is now designated as a major Health Center but lacks facilities befitting its name.”
He cited insufficient quarters for medical staff, the need to replace the solar batteries, the need for a theatre for simple surgeries, and the breakdown of the AC of the pharmacy and the lab room as some of the immediate concerns of the facility.
In terms of the water projects, Hon. Touray said they are progressing slowly and said the tanks for Foday Kunda and Bohum Kunda villages have been installed, while those of Wellingara Yareh and Sare Gubu are yet to be installed.
“The communities are desperate and are anxiously waiting for the completion of these projects,” Hon. Touray said.
He, however, thanked the Water Resources Ministry for the provision of a badly needed water tank for Baja Kunda, which he said has been installed and has greatly eased the water shortage in the village.
Regarding Education, Hon. Touray cited a shortage of chairs at Macca Masireh Basic Cycle School where children wait in turns to use chairs, making learning difficult for students.
On the efforts he is making to have these problems addressed, Hon. Touray said: “I have and I will continue to visit the Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Youth and Sport as well as Tourism, to relay these issues to them, and I will continue to visit them and will also raise parliamentary questions with a view to addressing these concerns from my constituents,” Hon. Touray said.
Reporting on his projects for the constituency, Hon. Touray said he has initiated his water projects for some of the vulnerable and small communities in the district such as Sare Kali and Sare Koli, which will soon be completed to ease the water crisis in these communities. He said he has also provided support from his allowance for communities to build the structures and install milling machines that were provided through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
When asked about his impressions regarding football in Wuli East, Hon. Touray said he was impressed with the development of sports in the constituency and the region in general. He said young people are so inspired that they readily contribute their own small resources to build a mini stadium in Sutukoba and Baja Kunda. He said he visited the Ministry of Youth and Sport and relayed these impressions to them so that they could provide support and build modest pavilions for them. He said this would go a long way in helping them maximize gate fees for further development of the facility.
