By Ebrima Mbaye
The expectation of citizens in having clean dalasi notes in this new year is a dream that will never come to pass as more ragged Gambia currency are in circulation without the intention of withdrawing them from circulation by the Central Bank for new ones.
It is an everyday complaint both at the market, inside the buses, supermarkets, and other public places about the obnoxious dalasi notes, expressing dissatisfaction more on this includes market vendors who are calling the government to take a thorough look at the currency notes to improve their quality.
Bakary Fatty, a vendor of second-hand clothes commonly called “Foga Jay” at the Serrekunda market while speaking to The Voice newspaper called on the authorities responsible for the printing and circulating of the dalasi notes to take a quick step over this. “We (sellers) face lots of challenges when it comes to the quality of money some of our customers give us.”
Some people, he explained, bring money that is totally outdated and when we collect from them such money will never be accepted by another person and that hinders their businesses or sometimes causes trouble between sellers and buyers.
Binta Dibba, a vegetable vendor at the Serekunda market added that the bad condition of the Gambia dalasi is a concern to everybody in this country.“It’s high time the government intervened and finds remedies to it. The Banks used to accept these monies but now they too are rejecting them.”
On her part, Fatoumatta Manneh, a bank client at the Latrikunda GT Bank said “Truly speaking the nature of our dalasi in circulation is not encouraging at all. I quarreled with one bus apprentice (Conductor) because he gave me money which can’t be accepted by any other person and this even led me to alight from that bus,” she stressed.
She disclosed that she visited the bank to change some dalasi notes that were torn but the bank refused to change them for her. “I appealed to the government to take immediate step to this persisting situation.”