By: Binta Jaiteh
The Youth President of the United Democratic Party (UDP), Hajie Suwaneh, has described President Adama Barrow’s Meet The People Tour as wastage of state resources.
Mr. Barrow on Monday embarked on the constitutionally-mandated annual whole-nation tour to find out challenges of the people and provide solutions.
In an exclusive interview with The Voice, Suwaneh reiterated that the purpose of the tour is to find out the challenges faced by the citizens but even with that constitutional provision, the Barrow government could not still meet the demands of the citizens for years.
The UDP youth president pointed out that the National Assembly previously approved D15M for the tour but that the amount has been increased to D30M.
‘’What is the purpose of increasing or approving such a huge amount of money if there is nothing to present to the people after the tour?’’ he asked.
He stressed that even though the President is mandated by the constitution to embark on the tour, the purpose of the tour is defeated.
‘’Barrow and his delegation turned the tour into a political platform,’’ he claimed.
According to him, Barrow made promises to the people during the tour but reneged on all the promises, leaving the citizens in dilemma. He added that it’s sad that the people have been complaining of price hikes for years yet the government fails to address the situation.
‘’Gambia is a small country. After 59 years of independence, the country is still highly dependent on foreign donors. The people are facing a lot of challenges ranging from the health sector, poor road condition, hike of food commodity prices, power cuts, water shortages and bad governance. The majority of the population are starving,’’ he stated.
Suwaneh maintained that prices of food commodities have increased drastically due to the lack of price control.
“As a government that was elected for change, considering the history of the former regime, this should be Barrow’s first priority in office,” said Suwaneh.
“I am worried and sad that a lot of Gambians currently cannot afford to feed their families daily. The poverty rate is getting higher. That is why people are attacked day and night,’’ he decried.
‘’Due to all these problems, the citizens have lost trust in the current government,’’ he asserted.
