In its bid to
improve the country’s transport infrastructure
system, the government of The Gambia will by the grace of the
Almighty Allah
commence the construction work of Phase One of the first ever
rail system latest January 2013, the president of
the Republic disclosed to the National Assembly Friday.
His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr
Yahya Jammeh was
speaking to a full-to-capacity Legislative Chamber at the
National Assembly in
Banjul, while delivering his 2012 State Opening of the
National Assembly
address, listened to by legislators, development partners,
members of the
Diplomatic and Consular Corps, invited parliamentary heads in
the sub-region
such as the speaker of the House of Representatives of the
Federal Republic of
Nigeria, the deputy speaker of the Parliament of the Islamic
Republic of
Mauritania, and Gambians at large.
President Jammeh’s 46-page address touched
on all sectors of
the country’s socio-economic development endeavours, outlining
his government’s
policies, achievements, development programmes and the
legislations to be
tabled before parliamentarians in 2012. In his address, the
Gambian leader expressed his
government’s commitment to pursue the implementation of the
rail system in 2013
as promised to Gambians.
His words: “I have made a promise and
pledge to the Gambian
people that we would have not a high speed rail but the 21st
Century type of
rail. So for that being the case, each time I talk to people,
possible donors,
they would look at me and say what did you say? You little
country is aiming
for what the giants want – it’s practically not possible. But
there is no harm
in aiming for the best, after all small is beautiful and good
things come from
small things. So that being the case, I want to inform this
gathering that
before the end of next [month] there will be a comprehensive
feasibility study
consultancy agreement with a renowned United States company
that is well known
worldwide in building high class rail. So before the end of
the year, the
feasibilities studies would have been completed and by the
grace of the
Almighty Allah, construction work for the Phase One of the
rail system would
commence latest January 2013.”
Agriculture
Shifting his comment to the agriculture
sector, the Gambian
leader informed the lawmakers that the main thrust of his
government in this
all important sector is the attainment of not only food
self-sufficiency, but
becoming a major player in the “Agriculture Exports Market”.
This sector, he
posited is one that has the greatest potential to provide
employment for
hundreds of thousands of people across all walks of life in
this country and to
eradicate poverty.
“In this endeavour to achieve the above
stated objectives,
my government through the Ministry of Agriculture and in
collaboration with the
Taiwanese Agricultural Mission, is putting under rice
cultivation about 400,
000 hectares over a period of five years that has started
since the year 2009.
The objective is that even with an output/yield of one tone of
rice per
hectare, once the entire 400, 000 hectares are put under rice
cultivation, we
will have produced more than what we consume and can go into
the export
market,” the Gambian leader disclosed.
He also disclosed that given the current
experiences, his
government will explore irrigational agriculture to ensure
production is not
affected even without rain. However, he decried the negative
attitude of the
youths towards the agric sector; something he said has led to
the sector being
dominated by women. He then stressed the need for all out
involvement in this
sector to ensure food security.
Health and Social Welfare
The president asserted that his government
is committed to
the attainment of the ‘Health Policy’ goals and objectives,
while indicating
that there have been tremendous improvements on physical
access to health care
due to the rapid expansion of health services to the
communities.
“The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare
is also
implementing two important projects, namely; the Health
Facilities Expansion
Project (HEEP) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) support
to the Malaria
Prevention and Control Project, which are jointly funded by
the government of
The Gambia and the IDB,” he stated.
In the area of child protection, the
Gambian leader said the
Department of Social Welfare continues to enhance the
protective environment
for children in difficult circumstances through the setting up
of 29 community
child protection committees in some regions of the country.
Basic Education
President Jammeh also dilated on the
strides made in the
education sector over the years. He said that in order to
increase access to
education in an equitable manner, apart from the continuation
of the
construction of classrooms to cater for the underserved
communities, gender
equity and special needs education initiatives will be
introduced.
“During this legislative year, the task of
improving the
quality of teaching and learning will focus on new initiatives
that have been
tested and found to be effective in improving children’s
learning achievements,
as evidenced by the annual national assessment tests and the
bi-annual early
grade reading assessments.
These initiatives include, but are not
limited to,
early grade literacy programme in English and the use of
national languages to
enhance the reading abilities of early graders, the provision
of adequate
trained teachers together with core instructional materials
sufficient for all
children in lower and upper basic schools at no cost to the
households,” he indicated.
Higher Education
In this area, the president said to mark
the declaration of
2012 as Year of Science, Technology and Innovation, activities
to be organised
will include the promotion of and sensitisation on science,
technology and
innovation at institutional and community levels, with private
sector
partnership supported.
“Young people, particularly boys and girls,
will be
encouraged to pursue careers pertinent to science, technology
and innovation to
enable them contribute effectively to national development,”
he stated.
While disclosing that the foundation stone
for the
construction of a multi-million dollar ultra-modern technical
and vocational
education and training centre at Ndemban village in the West
Coast Region was
officially laid, the Gambian leader also recalled that the
University of The
Gambia Faraba Banta Campus Project Phase One was launched in
February, 2012.
Tourism and Culture
President Jammeh noted that given the
significance of
tourism to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), his government
continues to boost
the sector. He reported that the 2011/2012 winter season
registered an
unprecedented success, with all the major hotels receiving
full bookings,
something he attributed to aggressive marketing.
The transformation of the Gambia Hotel
School into a Gambia
Tourism and Hospitality Institute, according to the president
is well on
course, with the first phase of the construction of the
project almost
complete. He also disclosed that plans are underway to
construct a
multi-purpose National Theatre Complex for the effective
promotion and
development of the visual and performing arts heritage of the
Gambia.
“Efforts will be made in the near future to
nominate the
“Kumpo” masquerade and the “Kora” as masterpieces of the Oral
and intangible heritage
of humanity,” he further informed the gathering.
Finance and Economic Affairs
The president informed the Legislature that
over the past
five years (2006-2011), The Gambia recorded a moderate and
stable growth rate
of 5 to 6 percent of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), for
which agriculture
remains the strongest driver, growing at an average rate of
7-9 percent per
year.
However, he said: “Due to crop failure
during the 2011-2012
crop seasons, the growth rate fell. Tourism and residential
construction
(financed by remittances) were also hit hard by the global
crisis, but the
strong rebound in Tourism that began late 2011 helped to
moderate the decline
in overall GDP.”
Trade
On this sector, the Gambian leader
underscored that in the
face of recent global economic challenges, measures are being
instituted to
reduce entry barriers and operating costs for businesses and
to enhance access
to finance and attract private investment flows, while
improving business
performance, especially for firms in the tourism and
hospitality sectors.
Works, Construction and Infrastructure
While underscoring that infrastructure
continues to be a
priority area in view of the fact that there cannot be any
meaningful
socio-economic development without it, the Gambian leader
noted that government
has made significant investments in the rehabilitation of
major trunk roads and
the building of the new ones through the assistance of the
European Union.
“We are making sustained effort towards the
construction of
Laminkoto-Passamas Road,” he added: “Significant improvements
have been
registered on both the design and civil works of the
Basse-Sabi-Velingara road,
for which has already begun. Funding has been secured for the
construction of
the Brikama-Dassilami-Dimbaya Road.”
President Jammeh also informed the
Legislature that feeder
roads linking villages to agricultural and social centres are
key development
concerns. In this regard, he disclosed that resources are
being committed under
the 10th EDF [European Development Fund] to rehabilitate a
total of 240km of
feeder roads in earmarked locations.
Much to the delight of new legislators, the
president
informed them that construction work at the new National
Assembly Complex is
“progressing well”, promising that he will address the 2013
state opening of
parliament in that edifice.
“When completed, this three-storey edifice
will be a
magnificent and state-of-the-art structure comprising the main
assembly hall, a
visitor’s gallery, an auditorium and a service sub-section. We
are glad to
announce that the required additional funds are made available
for the
remaining part of the work,” he concluded.
For more on the presidential address, follow
our subsequent
editions.