The Gambian leader, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh has stressed the need for more commitments and dedicated efforts from the government cycle, and the entire Gambian people towards national development, especially in the march towards attaining the country's Vision 2020 and other development goals.

The president, while acknowledging the tremendous growth the country has been undergoing, further stressed the need for belts to be further tightened so as to achieve the lofty development objectives sooner rather than later.The Gambian leader was speaking Wednesday afternoon in Kanilai, his native village in Foni Kansala, where he presided over the opening of a two-day special governmental retreat, which comes barely six months after the first one, held mid-January 2010.The retreat brought together top government officials, including the vice president , cabinet ministers, the secretary general and head of the Civil Service, permanent secretaries as well as other technocrats in the government machinery.

Convened at a time when the country has less than 10 years to achieve its long-term development blueprint, the Vision 2020, and with less than five years to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP); the retreat this time provided the platform for the highest decision-makers to take stock of the action plan agreed on during the first governmental retreat, which occasioned a comprehensive review of all sectoral plans, the Vision 2020 and other national blueprints.

The Gambian leader spoke extensively for more commitment and dedicated efforts; attitudinal changes; honesty; patriotism; and to fight against all negative menaces that will have devastating effects on the country such as drug trafficking, amongst others. He reiterated the need for more hands to be on deck to achieve more despite the fact that a lot has been done over the past 16 years.

"This is a family meeting where we put our hearts and minds together, exchange ideas and experiences because a government is a team. Without team work, there will be no progress. If we all want to play as individuals, we may achieve something but it will be very slow," the president stated.

Uncompromising stand against illicit drugs
President Jammeh once again declared his zero tolerance to the trafficking of illicit drugs and related activities, stressing that the government under his watchful eyes will not tolerate drugs in whatever form."We have seen the effects of drugs. They bring a lot of money but at the end of the day, they stop the development of a nation, cohesiveness of the family and the love for humanity. Only those who hate human life would indulge in this dangerous trade," the Gambian leader pointed out.

"What I want to make very clear is the fact this government will not accept drug in whatever form," he added.He warned that his government will take a more drastic step against the menace with a view to safeguarding the children and the youth of the country. He observed that drugs destroy the cream of the society, especially the youth in their prime.

"With drugs come corruption, indiscipline, violence and backwardness. The Gambia will not be colonised twice and it will not be enslaved twice because accepting drug dealers in this country means we have been colonised," he stressed, reiterating that the government will be coming up with very stringent anti-drug laws.

Attitudinal change
The Gambian leader also stressed the need for more attitudinal change towards the country's development, something he described as very important"Let us change attitude and remember that all of us sitting here are the ones responsible for building bridges, roads, improving on the electricity, and making Gambians realise the dreams that we all cherish," the president said, calling on the government sectors to work together as a team.

The president also cautioned Gambians to change their attitude and make more effort in embracing agriculture, with a view to discourage the longstanding trend of dependencies of the food we consume. He stressed that the country cannot be a proud nation when all what the people consume are imported."We cannot sustain our economy, develop it and have economic growth if 98 percent of what we consume is imported," he opined.President  Jammeh went on to explain the need to explore the River Gambia and the country's fertile land to ensure food sufficiency.

"If we make use of River Gambia and the fertile land, this country can get rid of poverty. If we want this country to develop faster and eradicate poverty, we have to fight self-inflicted poverty," he said, adding that there is the need for the dependency syndrome prevailing in the country to be discouraged.To this end, he equally challenged the youth of the country to change their attitude and be more serious towards national development.

He urged them to tap the available natural resources especially in the area of fishing, observing that most of the people exploring the country's water resources are foreigners. This, the president pointed out, will not help in the attainment of Vision 2020, emphasising that it is duty bound on every Gambian to contribute his or her quota to the socio-economic development of the country.He also called on the youth to engage in lucrative skilled ventures to earn decent self-employment, affirming that his government's role is to create the conducive environment by creating the necessary facilities.

Discipline of young children
The president also spoke on the need for parents to inculcate into their children a high sense of discipline. According to him, it is the responsibility of parents to train their children for them to become responsible people in the society.

The Gambian leader concluded by stressing the need for every Gambian to sit in the driver's seat towards the realisation of the country's vision.Speaking earlier, the vice president and minister of Women's Affairs, Her Excellency Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy said they are at the retreat to review whether they did what they have been directed to do in the various sectors.

She noted that a lot have been achieved over the past years, and agreed that more needs to be done to accomplish all the goals. He reminded the officials that expectations are high from Gambians, saying that time is not on their side in the drive towards achieving the Vision 2020.

Also speaking at the occasion, the secretary general and head of the Civil Service, Dr Njogu Bah described the retreat as another significant effort by President Jammeh in his unwavering drive to improve the performance of government through enhancing coherence, coordination, managing resource allocation and monitoring key outputs to improve the quality of life of Gambians. This initiative, he added, will better enable government to meet its' development objectives in both the short and long-term.Dr Bah concluded by thanking the president for his foresight and visionary leadership.