Halifa Sallah, secretary general Peoples’ Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS), has disclosed the country budget exceeded by D 25 billion while D 11 billion from tax and D 13.5 billion come from outside support.
According to him, in 2016 the country exported D16 billion and 814 million and the trade deficits was over 12 billion while in 2017 the country import was D25 billion and 613 million. He also the export was D403 million, noting that country is experiencing a deficit of D24.4 billion
He told delegates at PDOIS congress at Ngayen Sanjal Village, North Bank Region on Saturday, that economy of the country is sinking that is reason the debt of the country is over D56 billion.
Sallah further observed that taxes constitute the basis of the economic; calling on the government to invest in the productive sector of the economy upheld ‘economic reform.’
He said the government should be ready to invest in the productive sectors of the economy, adding that any partnership that the country is going to enter into must ensure that the Gambians form at least 50% of the workforce.
We must be innovation and we cannot continue to be imitators. We have to chart our own destiny.
He said for over 3 decades, PDOIS’ message is that a human being does not deserve to be a slave in the hands of another human being.
“Being a citizen of a country means ownership of power and equal to every other citizen,” Sallah said.
However, he said PDOIS came to being in 1986 in order to address six (6) sectors of the society which comprises the very fundamentals of our country.
He added that leaders are not elected to be gods but they are elected to be the servants of the people, adding that PDOIS, now aged 33 years and those who met to establish the party were either professionals in the field of Education and Public Health or graduates in the fields of study such as medicine, mathematics, physics, linguistics, and sociology, philosophy at bachelors, post graduate, masters and PhD level.
He said they used to contribute one-third of their salary to build a future party.
Sallah said to work to salvage the sovereign people of the country is a necessity and ‘we must do it’.