By Lamin B. Darboe- Information Officer, PMO
As part of his continued visit to departments under his purview, the Minister of Public Service, Administrative Reforms, Policy Coordination and Delivery last week visited National Records Service (NRS) Department at the Quadrangle and the new NRS headquarters under construction at Kanifing Institutional Area.
Minister Baboucarr O. Joof was received on arrival at the NRS department by the Director of National Records Services (NRS), Mr. Bartholomew Marong, and his staff.
The purpose of Minister Joof’s visit to NRS was meant to familiarize himself with the operations of the institute, its effort to transform from paper-based management of records to digital, know their challenges, and how to tackle those challenges among other issues.
Mr. Marong briefed Minister Joof on the work of the various units/divisions within NRS namely the Current Records Division, Records Center Operation Division, Archives Division, and IT Division.
He was also taking on a conducted tour of the office complex where various heads of Divisions had the opportunity to elaborate on their roles and responsibilities.
After, Minister Joof thanked the Director and team for exposing him to what the institution is doing and highlighted that there are plans to build a system (e-government) through the Ministry of Digital Economy that is robust and resilient.
He as well recognized the role records play in ensuring transparency and accountability in administration and implore on National Records Service to come up with strategies to move from manual records keeping to digital.
Public Service Minister, therefore, urged the NRS boss to work on their policies and NRS Act 1993 to move from paper-based records management to digital.
He assured NRS of his Ministry’s commitment to injecting a system that will be durable to serve the Gambian populace to their best.
For his part, the Director of National Records Service (NRS), Mr. Bartholomew Marong thanked Minister Joof for the visit to both the NRS department in Banjul and its new headquarters under construction at Kanifing Industrial Area.
At the ongoing new NRS headquarters site, Mr. Marong explained to Minister Joof that his institution signed Delegated Management Contract (DMC) with GAMWOKRS for the design and supervision of the construction of the new NRS headquarters in Kanifing.
Honorable Joof was taking on a tour of the building led by Mr. Habib Jeng CEO of Pinnacle Group, the contractor and the visit of the headquarters was also graced by the Director General of GAMWORKS, Omar Gaye, and his team.
Minister Joof also expressed his satisfaction with the ongoing construction of the NRS’s new headquarters at Kanifing Institutional Area and he was accompanied to NRS by his Permanent Secretary, Pateh Jah.
