Declares NPP’s Cham
By: Momodou Justice Darboe
The campaign manager of the ruling NPP Mr. Lamin Cham has told the people of Kabada in the Lower River Region that President Adama Barrow’s government has perfected plans to provide a 104KM road network in Kabada.
The NPP’s chief strategist also assured the Kabada people that electricity poles would be dotted everywhere in the area before the arrival of the year 2025.
He also reminded Kabada of President Barrow’s earlier promise of ensuring that every nook and cranny of the country gets access to pipe-borne water before 2025.
The NPP’s campaign manager hinted that these developments would be taken to the doorsteps of the people of Kabada to compensate for the many decades of lack of investment in infrastructure for the area by the Jawara and Jammehadministrations.
He partly attributed Kabada’s present “sorry state” to the UDP and its legislators.
“In 2017, all our NAMs were drawn from the UDP because we were in a coalition. However, we parted ways. They went their way and we went our way. If you look back to those days, the NAM for Kabada and in fact all the NAMs in the LRR came from the UDP. They [NAMs] could neither accomplish anything for their constituencies nor deliver anything meaningful to their region,” Cham said as he addressed a political rally at JarraSasita on Saturday.
According to him, the deplorable state of the roads in Kabadahad galvanized him into launching a lone crusade for the people of the area.
“I took it upon myself, as a son of Kabada and Kiang, to advocate for Kabada’s plight in the government since I am the personal assistant to President Barrow. We had that opportunity to talk every day and I never failed in bringing to his attention the Kabada road issue,” stated Cham. He continued: “I used to consistently tell the President that Kabada had no tarred road since independence. Finally, the opportunity came when I was responsible for the President’s itinerary when I decided to include Kabada’s Medina Angaleh among the villages to be visited by the President. As we drove to Medina, leaves were kissing his vehicle all along. When we reached there, he [Barrow] told me that I was right about what I used to say about Kabada. He then made the undertaking to compensate Kabadawith tarred roads for their loyalty to him. Bai Lamin Jobe was the works minister and Momodou Senghore was the National Roads Authority boss. They all corroborated what I said and thereafter, the government deployed people to conduct feasibility studies and thank God today, all Kabada roads from Kiang to Pakaliba Bridge-104km-have been surveyed and would be constructed. President Barrow would not promise Kabadathings that he won’t be ready to deliver. The road, starting from Kiang Kampooto to Kolior to Pakaliba Bridge would be constructed by the Chinese.”
Cham assured the people of Kabada that it’s President Barrow, who has the capacity, to develop The Gambia.
“Then if UDP should be coming here and drumming in your ears that this project is untenable, they are only trying to sow seeds of doubt in your minds.
“Nothing about the UDP is hidden from me. It was where we spent the formative years of our political career. We know what they are capable of and we are always alive to whatever they are up to. What they want now is to confuse you. But let me tell you the people of Kabada that it’s the President, who has the power to bring development. The opposition cannot even build you one kilometre of tarred road,” he added.
To Cham, it would be a fallacy if the opposition should promise Gambians pipe-borne water and other services.
“Every village in Kabada would be connected to the national grid. The people of Kabada, you were in the PPP for 30 years but you were neither connected to the national grid nor tarred roads. You were in the APRC for 22 years yet you had no access to electricity. You came to the NPP and you have seen a lot in seven years in terms of development. So, Adama is the solution. Let’s embrace Adama. His obsession is about how to provide health, education and security services and bring about prosperity for all Gambians,” Cham told the rally.
