By Yunus S Saliu
The Honourable Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) has enunciated that the Ministry and its institutions will not prevent anybody from getting their rightful livelihood but should be done in tandem and by relevant laws.
Minister Abdoullahi Jobe stated this shortly after a conducted tour of the Tourism Development Area (TDA) on Saturday.
Responding to a few questions from press members who accompanied him on the tour, the Minister urged the Tourism board to look at the approval that they gave to know if people are working in line with their approval.
He added that whatever approval given by the Gambia Tourism Board (GTBoard) should be respected by everyone, “because we are not trying to undermine leadership or for GTBoard to deny anybody the rightful livelihood.”
He noted that the GTBoard gave notices to several entities whose establishments are not up to standard, but “the approach we adopted is to sensitize before any enforcement. Now we sensitized them to make the necessary improvements so that the areas will look much more attractive than the state they are.”
Minister Jobe at the end of this visit encouraged stakeholders to work together for the interest of this sector.
Meanwhile, during this tour, the Minister was accompanied by the Director General of the Gambia Tourism Board (GTBoard) and senior officials, the TSU Commander, and members of the press corps and places visited included the demolished TerangaBeach Club, Palma Rima Beaches and environments, KotuBendula and Fajara Craft Markets, Horse stable and horse riders, Fajara Water Front Beach and surrounds, Tourist Car Parks with bicycle parks, terraces in between hotels, TSU houses in strategic areas within the TDA, Denton Bridge Boat Station and more.
