by Mariatou Ngum
Information officer, MOTIE
The ECOWAS National Office under the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment (MOTIE) on Thursday 14th September 2023 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Mansakonko Area Council and the Wellingaraba Village Development Committee (VDC).
The agreement was made at the Ministry’s conference hall in Banjul and it is meant to facilitate and implement the ECOWAS Cross-Border Cooperation Support Programme through the modernization of Welligaraba Lumo.
However, the objective of the ECOWAS Cross-Border Cooperation Support Programme (ECBCSP) is to strengthen cooperation among Communities, States, and Markets to deepen regional integration.
The Wellingaraba Lumo Modernization Project is part of the
Ministry of Trade’s commitment to ensuring that the Lumomodernization process is successfully piloted for the nationwide Lumo modernization agenda of the Ministry.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr. Lamin Dampha, the Permanent Secretary of MoTIE, thanked the ECOWAS National Platform for Cross-Border Cooperation-Free Movement and Migration (CBC-LCM) for supporting the project and the Mansakonko Area Council and the Wellingaraba VDC for partnering with the Ministry for the implementation of the project.
“We need support from every stakeholder in this process because this is the first project that we are implementing as far this project is concerned. We must make sure that it is successful so that the wider communities in The Gambia can also benefit,” he urged.
The Deputy Permanent Secretary of MoTIE, Mr AbdoulieJammeh, affirmed that the project is a driving project that will help people who are around the community and beyond The Gambia to intensify production because there is already a market for them and this is why this particular project is important to them.
Thanking the Mansakonko Area Council and the WellingarabaVDC for the commitment they have demonstrated, he assured them of their support and urged them to strengthen the collaboration.
For his part, Isamiala Dans, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry said Willigaraba is a vibrant Lumo community saying this is a community-based project while urging them to deliver thus the success of the project will bring more development in the region
Landing Sanneh, the chairman of Mansakonko Area Council informed the Ministry that they have the capacity to do the job and therefore they will collaborate with them for the successful implementation of the project.
