| GPA AUTHORITY YET TO COMMENT BUT… Following Foroyaa’s report on the experiences of the commuters on the ferry plying between Bamba Tenda and Yelli Tenda which tilted to a point that water started to get in as published in our Monday 21st -22nd publication, this reporter approached the Gambia Port Authority to find out what the authorities are doing to prevent a ferry disaster. When this reporter arrived at the GPA headquarter on Wednesday 23rd June 2010,he was referred to the director of technical services Mr Abdou Camara.When this reporter explained his mission to the director of technical services, the director indicated that he is not allowed to talk to the press as a civil servant without clearance. He told this reporter that the procedure is to write to the Director General requesting to have a session with a particular department. If this is approved, then the head of the department would be contacted who in turn will contact the Journalist concerned. He said that is the procedure which needs to be followed before he could talk to the press. Editor’s Note Foroyaa will follow the procedure to get to the truth in the interest of the public. However, the reporter was asked to find out whether GPA has acted on the report. The reporter found out that the GPA did send a team to investigate the matter. He was told that initially, those contacted wanted to argue that the incident never happened but when shown the picture taken by Foroyaa they had to concede and argued that what happened was water shipment, which is said to be caused by the following, strong head waves, strong head winds, or human error .It is claimed that instruction has already been given to prevent such a thing from occurring in the future. The reporter will do a follow up to get the official view. It is however our opinion that such bureaucracy is unnecessary for a service provider. It is the duty of GPA to call a Press Conference once such incidents are reported to reassure the public instead of waiting for a letter from a media establishment to request for an interview. |
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤