THE POINT NEWSPAPER Monday, May 20, 2002 The Jet Fighter Pierces The Airspace Again Yesterday, many people had shivers running down their spine when Jammeh’s Jet fighter pierced the greater Banjul’s airspace. Some people opined that some form of announcement about the matter should have been made before hand to get the public prepared for the show. Some wondered why the Jet made its second appearance at this point in time. Others advanced that it needed to be ‘tried’ from time to time to ‘heat’ its engines. Some also claimed that it came out because of the current upheaval in Casamance, speculating that it flew in that direction. Sierra Leoneans were said to have said: “Na so Salone been day”. Overall, the ‘show’ was not very much appreciated as it frightened many people (and animals as dogs were reported to have ran for shelter) with some of them dashing for safety or to take cover. We feel that the Jet should not have been flown following all that the President said about militarism through his rendition of the young girl’s message at the UN as well as his own statements. It would be recalled that the Banjul young girl said among other things: “…we do not need weapons.” The President himself said in New York: “I would finally like to urge all of us to help our children use their energies in constructive and positive ways because the misdirection of their energies resulting from neglect, poor health, lack of access to education, abuse, exploitation, militarism and crime can only deepen social instability and crises.” Now, the question one may ask is whether the government as a unit deals and works out issues as an entity or in a ‘piloting on sight’ manner? A policy statement is made by a Head of State in the confines of the UN General Assembly in the presence of Delegates from more than 180 countries and the next minute an action that runs counter to this profession of faith is carried out in contradiction of the stated commitment. What are we suffering from? Do we have people alive to their roles? What about good advisers, do we have them? People who make sure that policies and directives are adhered to more so when commitments are made in public and/or international fora. The other thing about the Jet is that it is costly to maintain and we still need money for the education, health of our people. World Bank officials have also decried its prohibitive maintenance envelope during a meeting with the media. Farmers are more and more facing hardship with the poor groundnut purchasing methods. Maybe the Jet should be sold and its proceeds used for other development-oriented pursuits as the President himself hinted in New York. - Or was that just one of diplomacy’s major rule, as we know it? _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~