By: Tijan S. Touray
The Brikama Area Council (BAC) on Thursday disbursed D28M to the 28 wards across the West Coast Region (WCR) to support development initiatives.
The fund has been increased from D500,000 per region to D1M this year.
Speaking during the disbursement, the Chairman of the BAC, Yankuba Darboe, said the rapid increase in the population comes with many challenges, including waste management, sanitation, high population density, flooding, and water problems. These challenges, he stated, prompted BAC to initiate the Ward Development Funds for the 28 wards to enable the council to execute development projects in each region.
“This is aimed to be done through the engagement of the ward development committees, which are in the best position to understand and identify the developments needs of their wards,” he pointed out.
Darboe explained that the Ward Development Fund will ensure that communities are directly involved in the decision-making, execution and maintenance of their projects, asserting that such a participatory model will foster a sense of ownership among the people. This, he continued, is crucial for the sustainability of the projects.
“The decentralization model further ensures that every ward of the region receives a fair share of the region’s limited resources and revenues mobilized annually,” he noted.
The BAC chair disclosed that the disbursed funds for last year resulted in the sinking of 22 boreholes in the region, enabling 22 communities to access potable water, adding that the Fund also enabled three communities to be connected to the national electricity grid.
“The one million dalasi disbursed today to each region is not a grant, subvention or donations received from benevolent donor nations or organizations, but these are funds coming directly from the tax revenues received from the taxpayers of the region,” he pointed out.
The BAC Chair called on the ward development committees to ensure the sustainable development goals, aspired for this year’s funds, are utilized to achieve those goals through the projects identified.
“Such will ensure good health and wellbeing, providing clean water and sanitation, advancing affordable and clean energy, fostering economic growth and women’s empowerment, improving infrastructure, fighting against hunger and poverty, and promoting sports and recreational activities, which will have a long – lasting positive impact on our people and benefit them immensely,” he emphasized.
Chairman Darboe acknowledged and commended the support and compliance of the people of the West Coast Region in paying their rates, licenses and taxes.
