By: NyimaSillah
Hagie Suwareh, the 2nd Vice president of the United Democratic Party Youth Wing has said the funds meant for the OIC projects have been consumed by the 2021 presidential elections.
He made this claim barely a few days after President Adama Barrow visited the OIC project areas where he expressed his disappointment on the slow progress made on the project as the summit will be hosted by The Gambia, this year.
In an interview with this reporter, Hagie claimed that President Adama Barrow was only finding a cheap excuse that he knew very well that The Gambia cannot host the 2022 OIC summit because ‘the OIC has been compromised as the funds meant for the OIC projects have been consumed by the 2021 presidential elections.”
Mr Hagie went on that by looking at the simple basic preparations to host the summit in the Gambia the government is far behind in terms of readiness to host the summit this year. “Not only the road constructions component but also electricity continues to be a nightmare in the country, security remains fragile and the 5-star hotel construction not even started yet.
“All these areas needed for the summit to go through in the country, you can agree with me that without doubt, President Barrow is only pretending by saying he is disappointed with the ongoing road construction when he does not even lay the foundation stone of the so-called 5-star hotel, which is said to be accommodating the dignitaries during the summit,” he stressed.
He pointed out that the Bertil Harding Highway construction cannot finish even in the next five months unless they want to rush the construction poorly for the sake of only finishing it without considering the quality.
However, he acknowledged that the summit is the second highest world’s biggest conference where heads of states converge and that they don’t expect that magnitude of gathering to go on in a country where the security is so weak.
“The government should come out and tell Gambians the truth surrounding the summit, rather than continuing deceiving and misleading citizens, because all the areas I mentioned here, they’re to be addressed before hosting the summit. If the summit can be hosted without these projects, then, what benefit will the OIC bring to the Gambia?” he queried.