Residents of Pirang and its satellite villages in Kombo East on Sunday joined the Director General of GRTS Alhaji Momodou Sanyang and staff in a clearing exercise of a 20 hectares GRTS farm in Bonto, Kombo East.

The clearing exercise was in preparation of the coming rain season in which Narica rice and coos will be cultivated.

In an interview with newsmen, Lamin M M Bojang , National Assembly member for Kombo East said the coming season will be a competion between the savvy GRTS Director General Alhaji Momodou Sanyang and the Gambian leader President Alhaji Yahya Jammeh.According to him, the initiative taken by GRTS is geared towards food self-sufficiency in the country.

" This venture of GRTS Director General should be emulated by all the institutions in The Gambia. We in the Kombo East constituency will go all out to support GRTS in their quest for The Gambia to accomplish their aim of food self-sufficiency". Honourable Bojang called on natives of his constituency to honour the Gambian leader's back to the land call to achieve the vision 2020 objectives and the MDGs.

Reacting to the statements of Kombo East Nam, GRTS Director General Alhaji Momodou Sanyang said it will be difficul to challenge the President this year since he has so many farms. " I can assure that I will produce a high quality harvest at the end of the day. GRTS is ready to combat hunger and the attainment of food self-sufficiency within a short posssible time. That is our target".

He added that "President Jammeh has ploughed the way for Gambians to follow. Anything that the President ventured in, is always in the interest of the Gambian peolpe and so as in the case of farming" he said.

Dida Halake, MD Daily Observer, commended GRTS for their excellent effort, emphasising that we should all strive to be food self-sufficient. "We cannot be a proud nation if we are begging others for our food", he said, adding "One good thing Jerry Rawlings did in Ghana was to make his country food self-sufficient. We should follow the President's example and set up these kind of village farms in every village".

Sulayman Gassama, and Morio Jarju who also spoke at the clearing exercise called on the people of Kombo East to follow the example of President Jammeh in his endevours to the attainment of The Gambia's food self-sufficiency stride.