PRESS RELEASE ON THE WULI FUND
The Wuli Fund was established in January 1998 after the National Assembly
decided to accept an income of D7000 for each member. The incomes of the
Minority and Majority Leaders were put at D8000 per month. The President,
Vice President and Secretaries of State were allocated incomes amounting to
D26,000; D16,000 and D13,000 respectively.
Since the sums allocated to the political representatives are derived from
the tax money of the people, Sidia Jatta told the members of the National
Assembly that they should show the people that they are in office not to
enrich themselves at their expense but to serve the people.
This is precisely the reason why he refused to accept the sum of D7000 for
his own personal income. Instead, he declared at the National Assembly that
he would only take D1500 from the sum received for his personal income and
D1000 for transport allowance; that the rest of the sum, after income tax
deduction, shall be put into a fund for the Wuli Constituency.
Since January 1998, the sum of D7,000 received by Sidia Jatta on a monthly
basis is spent as follows:
Personal Income: D1,500.00
Transport Allowance: D1,000.00
Income Tax: D599.08
Wuli Fund: D3,900.00
SUM DEPOSITED
A sum of D113,100 had been deducted from Sidia Jatta's income and put in the
Wuli Fund.
THE UTILIZATION OF THE FUND
Two bureaux were opened in Wuli to coordinate work in the constituency. The
bureaux have been instrumental in receiving complaints and providing
disaster relief. They have facilitated the establishment of Disaster Relief
Committees for fire and flood victims. Relief items such as food, clothing
and other utensils had been provided to victims. The Wuli Fund has provided
transportation and logistical support in the delivery of food items worth
D3,490.00 in the aftermath of last year's flood.
The Wuli Fund has been utilised to open up pilot adult literacy classes in
Wuli East and West. It was envisaged that once the pioneering work is done
other government or non-governmental agencies would take up the projects.
This has not happened. Consequently, since 1998 five literary facilitators
are being paid to run classes. Books have also been produced in the local
languages for mass distribution. Other items such as blackboards, chalk,
exercise books, pencils, rubbers, kerosene and gas lamps were provided to
the literary classes. The village of Bajonkoto received D3000.00 from the
Fund as emergency assistance to prevent a school building from collapsing
for lack of a roof. The FOROYAA Relief Programme mobilised D2000.00 from the
Taiwanese Embassy to combine it with D3000.00 from the Wuli Fund to provide
corrugated iron sheets and nails for the school at Bajonkoto.
A sum of D53,232.00 is now left in the Fund. This is to be handed over to
the Committee established to manage the Wuli Fund. The Fund may be managed
to provide grants, loans with interest or loans without interest. If the
Fund is utilised as grant to give aid to persons and communities, it will
neither be able to satisfy the demands of people and would exhaust quickly.
On the other hand, if it is utilised to give loans to persons or the
community without interest, it would be reduced gradually as different
persons and groups receive their request and take their time in repayment.
Finally, if it is utilised to give loans with interest, the Fund will
increase. It is left to the villagers in the constituency to determine the
policies regarding how the Fund is to be spent.
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