By Binta Jaiteh
Governor Ousman Bah of Central River Region (CRR) has recommended for a change of mindset of the people and called for adequate farming to minimize food importation.
The Governor made this call during the visit of the National Assembly select committee on regional government, lands, ombudsman and IEC to rural councils.
In a presentation presented by Honorable Sulayman Jammeh, chairperson of the committee, he disclosed that the governor also appealed to the Committee to constructively look at the budget for the Office of The Governors during the bilateral consultations.
Honorable Jammeh added that he reiterated the need for a strong collaboration and consultation between the office of the Governor, the Council, and other local development partners particularly in matters relating to project implementation in the Region.
He underlined the fact that any project that should implement within the region has to come to his desk before implementation. He said he also emphasise the need to inform the office of the Governor of all upcoming projects within the region for effective monitoring in the region.
According to him, the Governor welcomed Honorable Members into his office and expressed gratitude to the Committee for exercising its constitutional mandate while informing them that CRR is the biggest region with a total of eleven districts and 635 villages.
During the interaction, the Governor mentioned that the development of this nation lies in the hands of the National Assembly. He noted that in the exercise of his functions, it is equally important for the Council and all partners in development to work hand-in-hand for the benefit of the people living in Central River Region.
The Chairperson stated further that the challenges highlighted by the Governor are inadequate funding to execute some of the activities within the region, implementation of projects in there region without notifying Governor Office, insufficient fuel supply for mobility during security patrols, insufficient funding for their quarterly Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).
Furthermore, with regards to the Janjubureh Area Council the chairperson said the Vice Chairperson in a very angry and arrogant tone blamed the National Assembly for failing to address any of the challenges raised during the Nationwide Tour of the same Select committee of the 5th Legislature.
He continued in his presentation that his outburst set the pace for two other ward Councillors to follow suit in disparaging the work of the Select Committee. Owing to this unruly behaviour and disrespect from the Vice Chairperson and two other Councillors (Janjanbureh and Brikamaba Wards) towards Hon Members, the Committee decided to call off the meeting.
However, this report has summarized the outcome, findings, and recommendations of the first phase of the oversight of the Select Committee on Regional Government and Lands, Ombudsman, and I.E.C. And due to logistic constraints, this report covers the institutions engaged and scrutinized as per the mandate vested on the Committee by Section 109 subsection (2) of the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia.
Following thorough deliberations on the institutions and departments visited and in addition to information received at the project sites visited, the committee concludes that the institutions under its purview are committed to delivering quality service to the Gambian people.
Notwithstanding, the Committee noted that their work is being challenged by policy gaps, weak revenue generation capacity, weak human resource capacity and lack of awareness among the majority of Gambians about the nature and scope of the work of these institutions.
Hon Jammeh lamented that the committee recommended that as a matter of urgency for the department and Council should train their personnel. It is recommended that they re-establish or establish links with various institutions including the University of the Gambia for an excellent and efficient staff cadre.
