culled from the Point newspaper 2/21/2002
Farmers Ask For Tobaski
Money
As the holy feast of Edul-Adha commonly known as
“Tobaski” draws near, several farmers across the
country have expressed their dissatisfaction over
the
government’s failure to provide money for their
groundnut proceeds inorder to take care of their
children clothes, rams and other necessities for the
event. The farmers who called at this office said
that
credit buying is worse this year than ever before.
They
said: “ Journalalisolou teeyaa notoo bay kereng ney
fang, fang” meaning journalist credit buying is
definitely
going on, an old Baba Ceesay in Jarra told this
reporter.
According to many, the money that is normally
brought
at the different buying centres is far less than the
money
needed to pay for the nuts. The procedure, they
said,
is first come first serve business whenever there is
news that some money has come. “If you are late, you
will find no money. ” Ali Mbye who claimed to be a
farmer in the Central River Division who do not want
his village to be named told this reporter that they
depend on their groundnut proceeds to buy clothes
and rice for their family members, particularly for
those
of them who are not blessed with children sponsoring
them in the civil service.
Therefore government, he opined, should try their
utmost to wipe their tears. “We have suffered and
toiled at the mercy of snakes and scorpions during
the season, and when it is time to get our money,
we suffer
and cry again, this is very unfair,” he said. They
called on the government to do something before the
tobaski.
The state of groundnut buying in the past years, he
added, has been without its problems for years as
farmers were normally giving promisary notes to get
their money days or weeks later.
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