By Arfang M.S Camara
The Mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), Talib Ahmed Bensouda stated that the KMC will this year begin the construction of seven new parks within his municipality.
Mayor Bensouda was speaking on Tuesday, during his council donation of 90 footballs to ‘Nawettan’ zones within the Kanifing Municipality (KM).
“This year, KMC will begin the construction of 7 parks, and each park will have a football pitch, which will be a six a side football pitch. It will also have an outdoor gym and children’s playground,” he said.
According to him, they will start the construction this month (September 2022), noting that the first park will be at the Buff zone and the second one will be at Bakau while the five will be separated around the municipality.
Bensouda noted that sports can create income and be a powerhouse, if smartly invested in, while urging other regional administrations and the Government to invest more in grassroots football saying “the youth of the country can do more if little is invested in them”.
He further revealed that the youth are the engine of the country and they are very interested and passionate about football and sports in general.
“The footballs are not much because it’s just 15 footballs per team. It will not give them all they need, but it’s just a start to help improve the Championships and the ‘Nawettans’ in their zones,” he said.
He added that everything starts at grassroots and if they want to perform at both national and international level, they must support grassroots football, which KMC has been doing.
Also speaking during the donation ceremony, Babucarr Mansally, Councillor of Tallinding North who also doubles as the chairman of the Youth Standing Committee in the municipality said KM always supports sports development, not only football, but also other sporting events in the country.
Councillor Mansally advised the zones to follow their constitution so as to avoid conflicts, among themselves.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Ebrima Sawaneh, President of Manjai Sports Committee, thanked the Mayor and the KMC for giving them the chance to benefit from the gesture.
“On behalf of my fellow beneficiaries, I thank Bensouda for his tireless assistance to the youth; especially to the youth of KM. This is a clear testimony that the youth in this area are together, as one,” he said.