Folks,
Two Fridays back, I was called by Mustapha Njie (Taf) Chairman and CEO of
TAF HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED to inform me that he was aware of the debate
about his proposed housing project going on in the net. He intimated to me
that he was at the airport waiting to board his flight to Dakar. He
promised to call me on Sunday of Monday to give me some details about it.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I have not been able to sit with
him until yesterday evening when I closed from work. I passed by his office
on my way home and after the normal exchange of pleasantries, he gave me
some background about the inception of his housing project as well as some
information about the Brufut land allocation saga. He also gave me a copy
of the speech he made on the occasion of the inauguration of the Yundum
housing estate and the laying of the foundation stone of the Brufut
project. I was also shown detailed maps of the site as well as designs for
the houses to be built. This first installement, however is not about the
Brufut saga but about his speech on that fateful July 22nd day. When time
allows, I will post his explanation of what transpired at Brufut.
Have a good day, Gassa.
==================Beginning of Taf’s speech================
His Excellency Alhaji Dr. Yahya A.J.J Jammeh, President of the Republic of
The Gambia,
Her Excelleny The Vice President, Mada Isatou Njie-Saidy,
Honourable Secretaries of State,
His Excellencies, members of the Diplomatic and consular corps,
Mr. Pap Mbaye, Managing Director, Shelter-Afrique,
Dr. Ebrima Malick Samba, The WHO Regional Director for Africa,
Commissioner Western Division,
Chief of Kombo North,
Council of Elders,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Please allow me, on behalf of Taf Holding Company Limited and on my own
behalf, to welcome you all to our Yundum project site for the inauguration
of the Yarambamba Estate and the subsequent laying of the foundation stone
at the Brufut Garden, Brufut.
‘Operation House The Nation’ was launched in the year 2000 and is comprised
of two phaes. Phase 1 is located here in Yundum. Construction works on the
first phase commenced in April 2001.
This project was conceived not only to make decent shelter more affordable
and accessible especially in view of the increased demand for good quality
housing in The Greater Banjul Area but also as a direct response to the
objectives of Vision 2020.
The Yundum estate covers an area of 10.3 hectares and concists of 210 two
or three-bedroom housing units. All the houses are delivered complet with
services (water and electricity), fenced, paved and landscaped.
A landscaped recreational area is provided in front of the estate and in
addition over 1,000 different types of fruit trees have been planted along
the onsite streets at 5 Metre intervals to both enhance the esthetic and
environmental quality of the area and to provide fruits for the residents.
In collaboration with the residents, garbage collection and disposal is
arranged three times a week. All the onsite roads measuring a total of 3.7
Kilometres have been bituminised and paved with adequate street lighting
provided.
On final completeion, social amenities such as a mosque, a playfield, a
market, a nursery and primary school will be provided for the convenience
of the estate residents and people living in the surrounding villages.
The cost of the entire Yundum phase is US $4 million (D80 million). Shelter-
Afrique’s contribution is US $1 million (i.e D20 million) whilst the
remaining US $3 million (D60 million) is being put up by Taf Holding
Company through the sale of houses and assistance from the local banks.
One of the first major social decisions we took with regards to this
project was to donate a D400,000 complete house, fully furnished, to the
Coalition of The Disabled. This gesture did not only generate much-needed
funds for the coalition but raised public awareness of the existence and
needs of The Physically Disabled.
Your Excellency, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, when I took the
initiative of setting up Taf Holding Company twelve years ago, we had less
than a dozen staff. Today the company maintains a permanent staff of over
300 with a permanent team of 20 highly efficient sub-contractors each with
a staff of over a dozen people.
The Yundum project has so far employed over five hundred skilled and
unskilled labour. As part of my company’s objective to develop skills
relevant to the industry on a non-profit making basis, we have, in
collaboration with the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSS), enrolled 17 of
its graduates as part of their practical training. After an initial period
of practical exposure, these graduates were sub-contracted to build an
entire house on their own. Distiguished ladies and gentlemen, the result of
their work is quite outstanding and I hope some of you would find time to
inspect the house. The house is on plot number 179.
In response to the demand from our numerous clients for good quality
furniture, a modern carpentry workshop, staffed by highly skilled persons,
has been set up at our head office in Kanifing. You have the opportunity to
see some of these furniture when you view the houses we have opened for
inspection as part of this ceremony. Due to popular demand, the services of
our carpentry workshop have been extended to the general public.
Your Excellency, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, since it is porposed
that formal statements would not be delivered at the laying of the
foundation stone at Brufut, please allow me to give an outline of the
Brufut phase.
The site layout is designed to accommodate over 350 plots of various sizes
and includes generous green areas within which the social and leisure
facilities are located.
Sixteen different types of exquisitely designed houses including two and
three-bedroom apartments are proposed. All the houses and apartments would
be meticulously constructed and complemented with various amenities.
Similar to the Yundum site, all the houses would be delivered complete with
services, fenced, paved, landscaped and all the onsite roads, measuring
eleven (11) kilometres would be bituminised and paved with adequate street
lighting provided.
Since the site was allocated to Taf Holding Company last year, close to D2
million has so far been spent on the architectural and engineering designs.
These designs are being displayed for you to view. In fact, I have recently
concluded a tour of four European countries to secure funding. It is
estimated that the investment in Brufut will be US $15 million (D300
million) over the next ten years.
This Brufut project will also provide employment to over pne thousand
(1,000) Gambians over the next ten years.
Your excellency, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, coming back to the
Yundum, the decision to name the estate ‘Yarambamba’ is because we have
been reliably informed that the traditional name of this area is Yarambamba
and we believe it would be most appropriate if the same is maintained.
Distinguishe ladies and gentlemen, I am sure you will agree with me that
the Yarambamba estate creates an impressive sight especially to those
driving along the new airport road. At this juncture, we would like to
extend our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to His Excellency, alhaji
Dr. Yahya A.J.J Jammeh for his personal support and encouragement to the
Gambian private sector and particularly to the ‘Operation House The Nation’
project.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it is quite obvious that without the
major infrastructural developments that have been implemented by His
Excellency’s government, over the past eight years, this housing
development could not have been realized.
We would also like to thank shelter-Afrique for the support that they have
accorded us.
Your excellency, the infrastructure within the estate was ably constructed
by a number of sub-contractors namely:
CSE – for the roads
Dabanani Enterprise – for the external electrical works.
Geaur – for the water reticulation
Gambia Electrical Company – for the internal electrical works.
To them, we say a very big thank you.
We also wish to express our appreciation to the government of The Gambia,
Nawec, Gamtel and the people of Yundum for their support.
My profound gratitude also goes to the management and staff of Taf Holding
Company and the other sub-contractors for their hard work and dedication.
Ladies and gentlemen, the streets have also been named after cetain private
institutions in recognition of their contribution towards the development
of the private sector in The Gambia. They are all pioneers in their field
and leaders in Gambian society. They are:
The Quantum Group, which comprises of Quantum associates and QuantumNET,
and which was set up by four enterprising young Gambians; Mohammed Jah,
Yunusa Bah, Morr Jobe and Gibril Chorr.
Since its inception, the company has main impetus in the promotion and
application of IT to business and educational needs. It has provided
employment and created job opportunities for many youths by giving them
training in various areas ranging from office applications to programming
and electrical/electronic engineering. Your Excellency, in your speech last
you appealed to Gambians to patronize Gambian projects and products. I am
pleased to announce that the first eleven houses were bought by the Quantum
Group for its staff.
Boule and Co and its Managing Director, Mr. Charbel Elhajj, for being our
first major client and for the confidence he has always had in us.
Gamstat, and its Managing Director, Mr. Bai Ndongo Faal, for his
outstanding contribution to private sector development in The Gambia during
his tenure as President of The Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and
for the exemplary manner in which he facilitated government and private
sector dialogue in this country. He has also contributed immensely to the
insurance industry in this country.
Mrs. Alice Carr is one of the pioneers in the private sector. She is the
first woman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and remained so, for
very many years. She, thus bears the torch for all those women who have
since been and will in the future become members of the chamber. She is
also a pioneer in the construction industry, being the only proprietor of a
cement tile factory.
GAMECS and its Managing Director, Mr. Edi Njie, for being a pioneer in the
consultancy service industry and for his outstanding contribution to the
construction industry.
Gambia Electrical Company limited, for the partnership that has been forged
between two remarkable gentlemen over the last 26 years, Mr. Aki Allen and
Mr. Kwamla Elliot. They have established a successful electrical company
and have diversified over the years into real estate and industrial gas
production, with capacity to serve the sub-region.
Your Excellency, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much
for your presence and attention.
==========================The end=========================
Any typos are deeply regretted.
--
There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see,
yet small enough to solve (Mike Leavitt)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
