By: Nyima Sillah
On Thursday, scores of Gambians in the Greater Banjul Area expressed hope for more socio-economic impact in 2023.
Reaching out to The Voice on Wednesday, a Health worker who preferred to remain anonymous said 2022 was a year of tragedy in the history of the Gambia that Gambians used to cry about maternal mortality annually but last year was different as it was the cry of child mortality.
“AKI should be a wakeup call for the Ministry of Health and the government of the Gambia to double up their effort in the health sector. I would not say there was no effort but medicine for public consummation should be cautiously monitored.
“Our health sector lacks a lot, but we hope with all the new projects introduced by the government before and after the AKI incident, will make a difference in the health sector this year and forever,” our anonymous contributor said.
Ebrima Fatty, a farmer also said: Every year farmers plead to the government for assistance in fertilizers, but 2022 was the worst year for farmers.
“How do you expect a low-income earner to buy a bag of fertilizer for D2500 and feed his family before harvest begins? This issue was a major challenge that affects the entire Agriculture industry.
“We know the government spent millions in fertilizer but there is more that needs to be done. Let’s keep politics out of agriculture because this area is the backbone of every country,” he stressed.
More so, Ya Ndey Sanneh, Senior Teacher added that “We have seen a lot of setbacks in the education sector last year. There were many sit-down strikes from the university to all the education sectors. This depicts the lapses in the sector that the government needs to investigate and come up with tangible solutions.”
She appealed and said, “Let this year be a year of difference in all sectors, especially in the education sectors.”
Muhammed Saho, a businessman highlighted that the issue of economic instability harmed the business industry. Adding that, the government has to tackle the issue of economic instability in other to have price control in the market.
“Every year we complain of world crisis. It used to be Covid-19 and now it is the Russian-Ukraine War. We hope this year comes with a difference,” he expressed hope.