Editorial

We wish to add our voice to the call made by the president during his recent meeting with GPA and Nawec officials that we should not in any way allow saboteurs to destroy what it took the country a lot of hard work and dedication to achieve. Such a call is fundamental because as citizens, we have to be aware that  institutions like Nawec and GPA  play a very important role in the development drive of a  country like The Gambia; and, no doubt, this perception forms the basis of the priority areas of our government's development agenda. The successful implementation of national dreams like the Silicon Valley, an initiative of the leadership of this country, is strongly dependent on services like reliable power supply and an accessible port, among a host of others.

It is hard to understand why despite all the efforts by the leadership to tally the services of these two key institutions with the demands of national development, people still complain, and, of course, such complaints are mostly genuine. For the case of Nawec, even though the country was enjoying an almost 24-hour uninterrupted power supply, of recent we seem to be going back to the old days when load shading was the order of the day. Also, crossing the Banjul-Barra ferry terminal continues to be a nightmare. Whilst the rams where the ferries anchor are out of fashion and not in good shape, the absence of proper management of the terminal so as to facilitate smooth and easy crossing of people, goods and services makes the journey extra tedious. Those who use the route during festive periods like Tobaski know what we are talking about. Hundreds of people and vehicles get stranded at the terminal for days without crossing.  In addition to that, the state of the toilet facilities leaves a lot to be desired.

Extreme greed, powered by selfishness and lack of patriotism are responsible for this trend. GPA is not only suffering from acts of theft, but some people, out of untold wickedness, mess up with the operations of this very important national institution. As for Nawec, copper wires and aluminium fibres are the targets of saboteurs. There are a whole lot of obstacles faced by these institutions, which all boils down to sabotage. It is the responsibility of every patriotic citizen to fish out the saboteurs in our midst.  Indifference on our part  tantamounts  to  treachery. In the same vein, it will help a great deal if the management of the concerned institutions also come out plain about cases relating to sabotage within their operational activities.