Minister of Tourism and Culture, Hamat Bah has mourned the deplorable conditions of Gambia’s heritage sites across the country, accusing government for letting Christi Kunda, Tambasansang trading Post among others to be left in deplorable conditions.
On nationwide tour with officials of the tourism ministry, he made this remarks at Chris-Kunda, a onetime model Christian community established by Angelican Missionaries in 1942.
“To be honest leaving these heritage sites to deteriorate was an error on the part of the government. Now we have a responsibility to restore them which is very expensive,” Bah told senior Tourism officials on tour with him.
He added: “Our past determines our future, our children needs to know what have happened in the past and we can only know that when we preserve and protect the past.
In preserving and protecting the past, the heritage sites are important to us as a government.”
According to him, the site to heritage sites is demanded by government desire to protect, preserve, revive and linking these sites to the tourism industry thus opening economic opportunities for rural Gambians.
“The Gambia must learn from the good practices of China in collating, preserving and protecting the heritage and cultural sites of their country, “he said.
He added: The Chinese collated all their histories and created what they call Cultural Revolution that let to where they are.
For Gambian majority of our parents went away with lot of knowledge, they never transfer their knowledge to anyone and nobody cares to write their history. It is important that we avoid those mistakes for a second time and put the knowledge and skills in to writings and keep them for our future development,”
Minister Bah expressed his dissatisfaction regarding the historic Christian community of Christi Kunda that collapsed since 1948, revealing that former Vice President in post independent Gambia, Hassan Musa Camara and veteran educationist, John Jawo among other all past through Christi Kunda, Lower Basic School.
He further admitted that it was a huge mistake on the part of the government letting Christi Kunda to be left in such a deplorable situation, urging the National Council for Arts and Culture to take immediate action to protecting the site.
“Christi Kunda was a model village built by the Angelican Missionaries in 1942, in their efforts to spread their faith to people of the region, however, the mission run into difficulties shortly after establishment in 1948. It was reopened in the 50s mainly used for punishment center by some parents for stubborn pupils in Banjul and Kombo who were taken there for purnishment,” revealed Director General National Council for Arts and Culture, Hassoum Ceesay.
Ceesay further disclosed that the model Christian community was compose of a boarding school, a horticultural garden, a clinic and animal ranch, adding that the community was a self-contain society who produces everything by and for themselves.
