Following the resignation of the councillor for the Misera Ward, the Independent Electoral Commission will conduct a by-election to fill the said vacant seat in the Basse Area Council on Thursday 23rd October 2008.

Nomination forms will be issued out to the public from Monday 6th October 2008. Nomination of candidates will be held at the Basse Regional Office on Monday 13th October 2008 from 8 o’clock in the morning to 4 O’clock in the afternoon.
Campaigning will start from 15th and end on 21st October 2008.

The opening game, played between Sabi Village football team and Security forces ended2-1 in favoured of Sabi.In the second encounter, Manju defeated Angal Futa 2-0.

Other teams participating in the tournament include, Canno, Rising Stars, Musa Molloh, Gamcot Young Cluster, T-junction, Manchester United, Deco and Basse United, MRC, Alunhari Scorpions and Kansala.

The Chairman of Basse Area Council, Mr Omar Sampo Ceesay, on Wednesday presented the sum of D100,000.00 to the Chairman of the Village Development Committee (VDC) of Numuyel,  Mr Momodou Camara, as BAC’s contribution towards the construction of the road between Sotuma and Numuyel in the Upper River Region. According to Chairman Ceesay, the presentation is meant for the construction of a six-kilometer stretch of road between the two villages.

The contract for the construction of the road has been awarded to Ballast Nedam Contruction company and is expected to last for three months.

He assured the community of Numuyel that the council’s profit would be ploughed back to the people for the development of the region.

He disclosed that the council would purchase two tractors for Basse and its satellite villages very soon. “All this is geared towards the improvement of the sanitary conditions in the region,” he stated.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Governor of Upper River Region, Alh. Omar Khan, advised the community to continue to be loyal to the government. He also urged them to pay their taxes on time in order to enable them to embark on other developmental projects in the region. He called on members of the beneficiary communities to make their contribution by way of providing labour towards the completion of the project.

Present at the ceremony were the Chief of Jimara, Alh. Hagi Kulay Camara, Deputy Governor Alh. M.S. Kah, among other dignitaries.

The Deputy Officer-in-Charge of Basse Health Centre, Mr Ebrima Baldeh, has revealed to a team of journalists who are currently on a visit to MRC project sites in Upper River Region that plans are underway to transform Basse Health Centre into a District hospital.  He expressed optimism that if Basse Health Centre is transformed into a district hospital, the number of referrals to Bansang would decrease drastically.

He stated that the catchment area alone for Basse has a total of 137,577 inhabitants, noting that the sheer number of inhabitants necessitates the upgrading of the Health Centre to District, whose completion, he said, would reduce cost for treatment while the ambulance would also be in good condition. Mr Baldeh also pointed out that the existence of a District Hospital would ease the economic burden.

Alhagi Samba Tunkara, a commitee member of the health centre, said that there is a close working relationship between MRC and the health centre, adding that their committee sometimes organise fundraising activities for the health centre.

He also reiterated his committee’s support for the expansion of the health facility, noting that major developments have taken place in the health centre in recent times.

A youth was lately sentenced to serve a four-year jail term for attempting to rape a 50-year-old woman.

Magistrate Amadou Baldeh of Basse Magistrates’ Court sent one Momodou Sankareh to jail for making an early morning attempt to rape a 50-year-old woman, who was at the time, answering to the call of nature in a toilet.

According to Magistrate Baldeh, there was a need to insulate the convict from the greater society as a way of sending signal to others. He added that Sankareh would be deported at the end of his term in prison.       

Basse Area Council (BAC) owes the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) arrears of over 12 million dalasis. This was revealed to The Point yesterday by the new Chairman of Basse Area Council, Omar Sompo Ceesay.

According to Chairman Ceesay, the said sum was consumed during the past 10 years or so. He said that when they took over the leadership of BAC there has been no electricity. “It was just recently that we paid half a million dalasis to restore light and maintain water to enable us carry out our work effectively,” he disclosed, noting that henceforth the council would be using Cash Power metre so as to forestall any further increase on the already huge arrears they owe NAWEC.  Chairman Ceesay further revealed that the total income of BAC is far less than D4 Million yearly and that if they should pay NAWEC all the arrears they owe, they would not be able to carry out their intended development projects in the region. He appealed to Government to help settle these arrears for them in order to enable them execute other development initiatives in the Upper River Region.

It could be recalled that during the President’s Dialogue with the People’s tour at a meeting in Basse, Chairman Ceesay appealed to him to rescue his council from debt. “It’s a serious problem for us otherwise all our revenue will go to NAWEC,” he lamented.

Meanwhile, BAC Chairman has expressed enthusiasm that President Jammeh would do something for his council.

Contributing to the motion on the adjournment debate last Wednesday, Hon. Sellu Bah, National Assembly Member for Basse, reiterated his disgust and dismay over what he termed the multiplicity of immigration check points, particularly on the road from Barra to Basse. He opined that the sheer number of check points are causes of waste of precious time to the people using the roads, accusing immigration officers of making life difficult for Gambians and non-Gambians alike.

Hon. Bah, who raised the same concern at the National Assembly some time last year, lamented that ever so often officers manning not-far-apart posts would cause travelers to alight vehicles and make them stay there for hours on end for very flimsy reasons. “I want to cry again in this National Assembly, when our people come home from Europe and other parts of the world, they are not harassed at the airport; they are not harassed in Banjul. But the moment they cross over to Barra, they are harassed all over in every check point.

“We have cried foul all along and it is now high time we say it here. These security officers have really made life difficult. They are really giving us problem,” he fumed.

According to the Basse parliamentarian, it is all very well for some degree of security measures to be observed and maintained but such should not be done beyond reasonable limit. “I’m not saying that we should not exercise a degree of security measures but I believe there should be a limit. Every check point, they will ask you to bring all your luggage which is really disturbing,” he noted.

Turning to what he called “a laissez passe,” Hon. Bah described the phenomenon as a contributing factor to the failure of the re-export trade which, he added, has been lost and therefore hampers economic activity in this country.

The Basse NAM also drew the attention of the National Assembly to what he considered as misconduct on the part of certain security officers.

“Even if you are a Gambian and leave your Identity Card at home, they would ask you your Identity Card and if you fail to show it, you must pay D50 which is never registered and it all goes into their pockets, thus giving the government of the Gambia a bad name all along,” he asserted.

The apparently upset Basse parliamentarian lamented that the number of check points from Barra to Basse are uncountable. “I think it is high time for you Madam Speaker to see how you can intervene as head of this institution because we have been crying foul over and over,” he concluded.

Mr. Michael Secka was born on 12th December 1963 in the town of Basse in the Upper River Region (URR). He attended St. George’s Primary School and later Armitage High School. Then he went to the Gambia College for his Primary Teaching Certificate (PTC) and his Higher Teaching Certificate (HTC) and now he is studying at the University of The Gambia while heading the Jangjangbureh Upper Basic School.

In an interview recently Mr. Secka told The Point that he loves the art of writing and ever since he was young he has been dreaming of becoming a writer. Now he thanks God that he has successfully launched four books that are widely read. The books are  “Love Impersonation and Breaking Hearts”, “Education in Tears and Women in Distress”, “Literacy for Gambian Upper Basic Schools” and “Shock”.

He is launching a further six books in two months time which are called; “Face to Face with African Tradition”, “Management in Gambian Schools”, “Critical Essay in Education”, “Preserving Customs”, “Africa Robbed it’s History, Dignity and Culture Along the Paths of History” and “Concern That Matters But No System”.

He is appealing to the Government, NGOs, Philanthropists and well wishers for sponsorship to launch these books.