Hon Jato Sillah, the minister of Forestry and Environment, has said that the sustainable management of our environment has an inextricable linkage to youth development and welfare.

He noted that it is of absolute necessity to care for the earth, the natural world in which we live, to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for all is inhabitants; "Whether it is people, animals, wildlife, the ocean and the rivers,  or biodiversity as a whole, everything needs to be equally cared for if our future, and the future of our world’s children is to be a healthy and a secure one," he remarked.

Minister Sillah made these remarks on Saturday, June 4th, during the speech and prize giving ceremony of St. Peters Technical Senior Secondary School, held at the school in Lamin.

He observed that this earth that was created to sustain us and provide for all our needs, has been sorely mis-used and abused since over the last 200 hundred years and that industrial pollution and massive global deforestation has caused "the delicate yet miraculous balance of creation to be disrupted to a point where the world’s atmosphere is coming increasingly hot". He said this warming is causing the world's climate to change. "Rain patterns are changing, the oceans are rising, environmental diseases are rampant, deserts are increasing and fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce," he further remarked.

He went on: "Our nation along with every nation of the world now stands at the brink of an unknown future. Change is coming, whether we want that change to come or not, yet how we survive that change is up to each and every one of us. Agricultural practices will have to change and so will forestry and fishing; buildings, roads, healthcare and education, all will have to change and adapt in the near future.".

"In the words of the chief architect of our development blueprint (Vision 2020), the visionary leader, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya AJJ Jammeh," he added "we can only achieve our vision if all Gambians show determination, resolve, dedication and hard work towards our common good". Minister Sillah noted that given its level of vulnerability as a least developed country, The Gambia would continue to show resolve and determination in adapting and mitigating climate change and combating land degradation for the benefit of its peoples.

"We must educate and empower our youth for this is their future we are shaping and we must listen to their voices. We must educate and empower our women, for it is from them that the seeds of the future grow. We must learn to care for our environment and our world as if it was our favourite child; we must tend and nurture it and we must feed and care for it, for in this world what goes aground most certainly does come around and what we poison, we eat," he conluded.

The principal of St. Peters Technical SSS, Rev. Father Tupan, said they are privileged to possess a core of faithful, dynamic and diligent staff that ensures quality, success, continuity and dynamism. "Teacher effectiveness continues and will continue to improve. The new learn very fast from the old and the experienced and both create the most conducive atmosphere to stimulate and facilitate their productivity and success," he said noting that the staff as a whole: both teaching and ancillary should be commended for their selfless effort, commitment and dedication to educating our future leaders.

He went on to indicate that a manifestation of the invaluable contribution of the staff is evident in the overall level of motivation and aptitude of the students. "In the 2009 May/June West Africa Senior Secondary School Examination, the school registered 89 candidates; three students got credits in 9 subjects and 26 got credits in 5 subjects," he revealed.

"The parents and guardians of our students should not be omitted, as it has been through their financial and moral support, that students have been more responsive in school. I would nonetheless appeal to parents and guardians to be untiring in their efforts to support their children, and always help them to make the best of their abilities and to use their advantages to the full," he concluded.  The head girl of the school, Fatou Faburay, delivered the vote of thanks. Certificates were presented to the outstanding students and the graduates.