Ahmed Talib Bensouda, Mayor of Kanifing Municipal (KMC) has said before his term, the council was a political bureau and market with a debt of D90 million owing banks.
Mayor Bensouda is currently on a tour of the municipality which is in line with the Provisions in the 2022 Local Government Act, yesterday he visited London Corner Ward Councilor.
During his visit there, they talked about the development of the area from 1996 to date.
Mayor Bensouda told the councilor that despite the council could not provide all the needs of the people, but at least made some developments.
“When I was coming, mismanagement and the endless party was rampant, all the hotels in the Gambia owed the council and nothing was done. KMC was a market and every month they pay party militants and pay other individuals who are not working, so we came and transformed KMC into a professional institution to serve the citizens,” he said.
He argued that the Councilor of London Corner ward is NPP and a member of the National Assembly for Serrekunda is PDOIS, and he is a UDP so all three different political parties are sitting on the same platform to discuss.
“London Corner is not paying tax though it is not only them but 80% of KMC are not paying tax. The money that they claimed we have in KMC, a greater part of it is through business. If you look at what London Corner pays, it is not up to D1.5 million that cannot develop anything,” Mayor accused London Corner of failure to pay tax.
He noted that the council has spent a lot of funds on the dumping side which is where all the taxpayers’ money goes even though it is not part of the London Corner area but their waste is transported at the dumping side.