Family members of the late chief of Kombo Central, Jerreba Bojang, have expressed concern over the decision by the management of Brikama Area Council (BAC) to relocate vendors from the old Brikama Car Park to the site of the former craft market.

They refuted claims by the council that the said site was government property, saying that it was their family property. They claimed that their father (the late Jereba Bojang) had inherited the same land from his parents.

Alhaji Jammeh Bojang, one of the late Chief Bojang’s nephews told the Daily Observer, yesterday, that the land in question was used by the late chief as his tribunal before letting it out to some Senegalese, who used it as a craft market.

He categorically denied that the place was either the property of the council or one belonging to Brikama. “It is our family property,” the old man said, noting that the council has no legal mandate to deprive their family of what legally belongs to them. According to him, the council has never given them notice of having any interest in the said land.

“We do not accept the decision today and we will not accept it tomorrow,” the angry looking old man said. He concluded by stating that they had spoken to the vendors, advising them against relocating their businesses to the site, but they did not heed their request.

Buba Bojang, the eldest son of the late Chief Jerreba Bojang, said that after the death of his father, they had written to the council for the official transfer of the land to the Bojang Kunda family, which he said was done.

According to him, they had paid D3,000 for that transaction. “I don’t know why they are now reclaiming ownership of the place,” he noted. He said that when the vendors started relocating their businesses to the land in question, they (the Bojang Kunda Family) reported the matter to the Brikama Police Station, whom he said had not done anything.

He said that they then went to the deputy permanent sectary at the Department of State for Local Government, Lands and Religious Affairs, and then to the SoS, Ismaila Sambou, who told them that he had not received any information regarding the development.

“We are not refusing development, but the fact is that the way the council took up the issue was not professional,” he said, suggesting that the council should have discussed the matter with them to reach a compromise. “They should have come to us in the most dignified and respectable manner,” he argued.

Counter argument
Responding to the latest development, Sunkari Badjie, the chairman of BAC, countered the arguments, saying “as far as I know, the land in question is a council and government property.”

He said that the said transfer paper the Bojang Kunda family was claiming to have acquired from them was signed by one Lamin Jammeh, a former chief executive officer of the council, without the notice of the council management. He revealed that Lamin Jammeh in fact had no legal mandate to give out lands in the name of the council.

For his part, Sereign Modou Joof, the council’s public relations officer, said one Jammeh Touray (head of the Bulunda Clan in Brikama) had reliably informed the council that the disputed land was given to the government by one Fasaikou Dandanba Sanneh to serve as a voting centre in 1962, when voting used to be conducted at the Brikama Lower Basic School. PRO Joof said that according to Jammeh Touray, when the late Chief Jerreba Bojang took over the mantle of chieftaincy, he felt that he should have a court house and the council decided to build a tribunal for him at the land in question.

“After Chief Jerreba’s term of office, the chieftaincy was moved to Kembujeh and handed over to the late chief, Sanjally Bojang, who decided to have his tribunal at his home, and  the council subsequently turned the site to a craft market,” Mr Joof noted.
He went on to say that throughout those processes, the late chief, Jerreba Bojang was alive, and that he had never made any claim of ownership of the site.

He expressed dismay as to why such claims are coming when the government needs the land to establish a worthwhile project, referring to The Gambia government-Japanese Government Fish Market and Storage Project.

“The council would not allow the Gambia government to lose this project, for it is in the interest of the people,” he vowed.

It could be recalled that vendors and shopkeepers within the old Brikama Car Park, who have been instructed to relocate their businesses to the former craft market (the disputed site) have been expressing concerns over the decision and have described it as a setback for their businesses.

A multitude of vendors and shopkeepers at the old Brikama Car Park have been told to vacate.

According to reports reaching the Daily Observer, the management of Brikama Area Council had asked the vendors to relocate to the former Brikama Craft Market; a move the market people fear would harm their businesses.

Lama Jallow, a mobile telephone businessman, on Monday, informed the Daily Observer that the council had given him “only two day’s ultimatum to vacate” the place; failing which, he said, his place would be demolished.

He argued that he does not want to relocate his business to the old craft market where, he said, there were no constructed buildings.

"In fact that place is not favourable for business," a frustrated looking Mr Jallow said.
Abdoulie Ndure, another businessman, complained that the relocation would have serious effects on his business, as he had only two days to vacate the place; something he believes is unfair.

A third victim of the relocation, Mr Yusupha Faye, a mobile repairer, said: "We are appealing to the management of Brikama Area Council to give us more time so that we can put ourselves together."

He then suggested that the authority allow them to stay put until after the fasting period. Mr Faye further appealed to the council to put into consideration the fact that they had just completed payment of their taxes and that they had not used even a quarter of what their payment was worth.

He revealed that they had received information from undisclosed sources that the place they have been asked to relocate their businesses to is in fact a “property belonging to a particular family”.

A measured response
Reacting to the development, Mr Sereign Modou Joof, public relations officer of Brikama Area Council, said: "As far as BAC is concerned, the issue of relocating the vendors had been on course since 2006".

He revealed that they intend to establish a fish storage facility at the disputed site; a project which Mr Joof said was the  product of a grant given to the government of The Gambia by the Japanese government.

PRO Joof further disclosed that the BAC management, in conjunction with the Department of State for Fisheries and Water Resources, as well as the affected vendors, had had several meetings over the issue.

He said that during one such meeting, all the retailers had agreed to adhere to the council’s decision for them to be relocated.

"The project we intend to establish is not a BAC project; rather, it is a Gambia Government project," PRO Joof noted, adding that in July  this year, the council distributed a press release giving a month’s notice for the retailers to vacate the place, "but none of them answered to that”.

Mr Joof then concluded with an appeal to the affected vendors to take the decision in good faith, noting that BAC did not mean to bring harm on neither the businessmen and women nor do they intend to drag their businesses into the mud.

The Department of State for Trade, Industry and Employment has warned rice dealers involve in the unhealthy market practice of conditioning retailers to buy rice alongside other goods to desist from it with immediate effect.

In a dispatch sent to the Daily Observer, the state department stressed that such a practice is unlawful and contravenes the provisions of the Competition Act, which came into force on 1 January, this year.

Below is the full text of the dispatch:
It has come to the attention of the Department of State for Trade, Industry and Employment that some importers and wholesalers are involved in the practice of tying or linking the sale of rice to retailers to the purchase of other goods.  

In other words, retailers who refuse to accept these other goods are denied the opportunity of buying rice from these wholesalers. Also, other wholesalers are linking the purchase of one variety of rice, for example 5% broken, to the purchase of another variety, say 25% broken.  Such practices contribute to high retail prices as retailers who find themselves with goods that they cannot sell end up applying a margin of the price on rice.

The Department of State for Trade, Industry and Employment wishes to make it very clear to those involved and the general business community that such a practice is not only anti-competitive and unhealthy for the economy, but also illegal and violates the provisions of the Competition Act 2007, which came into force on January 1, 2008. We therefore call on all those involved in such practices to desist with immediate effect, or face the full force of the law.

As the Department of State for Trade, Industry and Employment continues to work with and support all those genuine businesses, it will not tolerate any abusive practices by unscrupulous persons.

The cooperation of the business community and the general public is highly solicited in making The Gambia business environment more conducive.

President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, on Monday, officially inaugurated the D42 million Revenue House of the Gambia Revenue Authority, Banjul, a day before the 14th anniversary of the July 22 Revolution.

President Jammeh used the opportunity to warn against complacency, nepotism, corruption and sabotage. While stressing the need for sustained impressive performance in revenue collection, the president implored the officials at the GRA to live up to expectations and consider every success as a challenge.

He then urged every Gambian of tax-paying age, businesses and organisations, to live up to their tax obligations, which he described as a national duty and responsibility.

“Payment of tax not only constitutes a divine order, but also gives the taxpayer the right to demand for balanced public services in return. Therefore, we must avoid every tendency to evade taxes, since this constitutes a serious economic crime that anyone found culpable of will be brought to book,” he said.

President Jammeh advised the GRA to deal firmly with all tax defaulters who deny government revenue.

He also advised the authority to limit its capacity to development programmes for the benefit of the people and warned against the “Maslaha” syndrome, which robs rather than enriches the country in many ways. According to him, the term [Maslaha] is seriously abused by unscrupulous people who see state resources being vandalised through tax evasion, outright theft, or aiding and abetting others to declare false and inaccurate returns just to pay little or no tax at all.

He added that those with the habit should desist from it, as this tantamounts to unpatriotic behavior and economic sabotage, which will never be tolerated.

The Gambian leader strongly advised all stakeholders - tax collectors, tax payers and the general public at large - to be their own watchdogs and desist from such malpractices so that together, The Gambia can achieve the development goals that everyone aspires for.

According to him, the objective of creating the GRA is to ensure that an appropriate institutional system is in place to serve as a one-stop-shop for harnessing the revenue collection potential of the country, by enforcing stricter adherence to tax obligations to the state. He observed that since the creation of the GRA, revenue collection has increased steadily from D2.3 billion in 2004 to D3.3 billion in 2007. He praised some impressive performances registered by the GRA and commended the management for their honesty and dedication to duty, as well as the protection of the common good.

President Jammeh stated that with a cost of over D40 million, it is incumbent upon the management, the Board and all the staff of the authority to ensure that the structure is put to good use and properly maintained.

He told the gathering that the government would do everything possible to ensure that there is stability in the macroeconomic environment at all times, a necessary condition for balanced growth and sustainable development.

He thanked the development partners, notably the International Development Association of the World Bank and the  Capacity Building & Economic Management Project (CBEMP) for their efforts towards the success of the project.

For his part, Musa Gibril Bala Gaye, the secretary of state for Finance and Economic Affairs, described the new edifice as a clear testimony of the amount of work and effort chipped in by all concerned to ensure that the end result was positive.

SoS Gaye added that the service delivery to taxpayers has been uppermost in the priorities of government, adding that as a government, they are committed to the allocation of sufficient resources within the budget constraints to ensure that GRA’s capacity to deliver its mandate is put on a sustainable platform for the foreseeable future. “In recognition of this fact, we have in the last two years directed substantial resources to the GRA in order to build its capacity to render efficient services to the citizens of this country,” he said, adding that they have ”increased the budgetary allocation to the GRA from D69 million in 2006 to D129 million in 2008.

“Furthermore, reforms are ongoing through the revival of the income tax computerised process (GAMTAXNET) and the introduction of the new unique Taxpayers Identification Number (TIN) in order to have a more realistic taxpayers data base,” he elaborated.

The Finance and Economic Affairs SoS then commended the GRA for exceeding its 2007 target by close to D300 million in its first year of operation. He also thanked the CBEMP PCU, the project consultant, contractor, and the GRA management for their efforts in the realisation of the goals.

Momodou Kabba Tambajang, the commissioner general of the GRA, highlighted the major achievements of GRA. He stated their commitment to continue playing their rightful role in the mobilisation of domestic financial resources to enhance The Gambia’s financial independence and sovereignty and to achieve the Vision 2020 goal of transforming The Gambia into a large-income economy.

The GRA boss then saluted the government and recognised the personal assistance of President Jammeh. He also thanked the staff of GRA for a job well done over the years.

Other speakers included Mr Rene Geoffery Renner, the chairman of the GRA Board of directors, Joseph Sarr, the consultant and architect of the building and Fatou Leigh, the project director of the Capacity Building & Economic Management Project (CBEMP).

At the end of the ceremony, President Jammeh also unveiled the new GRA plague and later toured the premises.  

Present at ceremony were the vice-president, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, the speaker of the National Assembly, Hon Fatoumatta  Jahumpa-Ceesay, the chief justice, Abdou Karim Savage, secretaries of state, and members of the diplomatic corps, among others.

In order to bring together tourism businesses from West Africa, European travel trade and the rest of the world, the Gambia Tourism Authority (GTA) has on Thursday, 17 July 2008 launched this year ‘MBOKA’ 2008 West African Travel Market at the Paradise Suits Hotel.

This travel market expo tagged ‘MBOKA’ 2008 scheduled to take place in 18th to 22nd October later this year in Banjul was presided over by the Secretary of State for Tourism and Culture, Madam Nancy Njie.

The West African Travel Market- MBOKA 2008 Banjul is an open platform where local businesses and communities, international tour operators, investors; NGOs; and government can meet to support a sustainable development of the tourism sector in West Africa. It will also be an opportunity for hoteliers, airliners, local tour operators; travel agents; bankers; resorts and destinations, among others to sell their products. So far it is established as a permanent initiative that offers an integrated set of instruments and actions such as an online market event, international marketing support and match making West African Travel Market business to business event.

MBOKA is a Wollof language that mean RELATIVE, it is a laudable partnership initiated by the National Organization for the Integration of Tourism in Senegal (ONITS) and Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism (ASSET) Gambia to promote tourism for sustainable development. It is an annual West African Market expo. The hosting right is rotational between the two sister countries, Senegal and The Gambia. The maiden edition was hosted in Dakar, Senegal late last year.

According to the Secretary of State for Tourism and Culture, Madam Nancy Njie, West African Travel Market is the first of its kind in West  Africa Region. She added that the major highlight of the MBOKA 2008 travel fair is a B2B event that will bring together the major actors that involved in tourism and hospitality from West Africa and Europe.

The event will include product presentations, one to one business meetings, plenary sessions, familiarization trips and workshops on sustainable tourism. The other side of this unique travel market expo "include cultural displays, fashion show and taste of different West Africa food," she noted.

The strategic objective of this spectacular West African Travel Market is to support West African governments and tourism industry in order to develop tourism in a manner that will contribute to both local economic development and poverty alleviation, community empowerment and the protection of the environment. However, West African Travel Market supports the exchange of experiences and the strengthening of promotional skills and competences.

The Director General of the GTA, Mr Alieu Mboge said since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between ASSET and ONITS in Dakar, the objectives of the event has revolved around the promotion of small scale tourism enterprises of both the Senegal and the Gambia.

For sustainability of tourism, West African Travel Market will support the development of regional standards for sustainable tourism. It will also link with the existing standards and systems such as the international tour operators’ travelife standard and the standards of European ecolabels for sustainable tourism. African suppliers will be able to conduct a self-evaluation of their social and environmental performances by completing a sustainability checklist.

Mr Mboge emphasized on the importance of this event noting, "MBOKA 2008 is quite significant in many respects because it is an event which by all accounts will be a groundbreaking. As for the first time in the Gambia tourism calendar of events, a program of this magnitude with a complete focus on sustainable tourism will be hosted."

He continued that "internationally, the event has special significance as a mix of tourism flavors will be showcased to the delight of all visitors and participants from the Gambia, the neighboring countries of West Africa and Europe. Therefore it is expected that various players will interact at different levels, share experience and forge partnerships for the sustainable development of the tourism sector."

West Africa is a still unexplored region relatively close to Europe. It offers a great variety in people, culture and traditions with abundant beauty. So to diversify their economies, West African countries should increase focus on tourism development.
 
In order to increase concrete results, through this event European partners will provide active market support to sustainable African suppliers.

It is an open market for every stakeholders like European tour operators searching for new and sustainable tourism products; sustainable products looking for market access; hotels and destinations interested to become more sustainable; governments looking for exchange of experiences and success stories; promotional agencies searching for partnerships; development agencies identifying new approaches and promising initiatives plus private investors looking for opportunities and inspiration.

West African Travel Market have some reputable partners in their sleeves among are Gambia Tourism Authority-GTA; Eco-Benin; Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation; Association of Small Scale Tourism Enterprises-Gambia; National Organization for the Integration of Tourism in Senegal-ONITS; Tour Operators Federation of Ghana (TOUGHA); Sierra Leone Tourist Board; Cameroon Ministry of Tourism among others. While their West African products are promoted to the European markets in partnership with the leading tourism marketing initiatives which include Reisepavillion, the German Travel Fair for Sustainable Tourism; the Federation of Tour Operators; Travelife Market and so on.

For more information and how to register for the MBOKA 2008 West African Travel Market in the Gambia visit their website at www.westafricantravelmarket.com

The Indigenous Business Advisory Service (IBAS), one of the leading micro-finance institutions in The Gambia, on Thursday, concluded a two day training workshop at its head office in Bakau.

The training, which aimed at equipping the staff with the requiste skills to enhance micro finance service delivery, brought together IBAS staff from all regions across the country.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Demba Bah, the deputy manager of IBAS, who spoke on behalf of the Managing Director, stressed the need for the staff to remember their duties and responsibilities, and to address problems professionally.  He however gave a brief background of the institution, stating that IBAS was piloted way back in 1975, and that it was enacted by parliament in 1976.

“The institution was mandated to assist and promote small scale activities including the provision of financial and technical support to small and medium scale businesses as well as to provide extension services like training, consultancy services and counselling,” he said.

Mr Bah further highlighted the constrains the institution encountered over the years, citing the lack of resources to encourage and motivate the staff. “We also face the difficulties of recovering our loans from customers and we do give grace period to pay loans,” he said.  He further revealed that IBAS is also engaged in viable projects that creates employment for the Gambian youths, such as carpentary workshop, welding and fabrications, food processing, retail business, poultry farms, animal husbandry, horticultural gardening and others.

Mr Bah then urge people to patronise the institution to enable Gambians to realise their dreams.

“While Bayba is under Central Bank control”, says Governor Saho

Bamba Saho, the Governor of the Central Bank has reassured all depositors, dealers and other customers of the seized Bayba Money Transfer company that under the management of the Central Bank, their monies are save and can continue their transaction with the company on regular basis.

Governor Saho gave this assurance yesterday in an interview with the Daily Observer in his office at the Central Bank.

According to him, all the customers dealing with Bayba should note that they are dealing with an organization that is under the management of the Central Bank of The Gambia and that there funds are safe. “With Babya, we will make sure that the depositors does not suffer and I have the support of government adding that all dealers and depositors with Bayba can continue as it is safe under the Central Bank of the Gambia management. In short, all those conducting business with Bayba during the CBG management, their monies are safe’ he said.

He added that the effect of the seizure of Bayba is that the Central Bank of The Gambia has taken full and exclusive management and control of it, noting that while the Central Bank is running it, customers of Babya can conduct businesses with Bayba in a safe manner which is the purpose of the seizure.

Clarifying the ‘ take possession’ statement indicated in the recent press release,Governor Saho stated that, they took full control of the full management. “We basically have exclusive powers of management and control of Bayba”.

Asked whether plans are in place to quit Bayba from banking and shift it to its previously very successful money transfer business, Governor Saho stated that they started the prescription of Bayba under Section 28 of the Central Bank of The Gambia Act on December 3rd 2007, and what it meant was that they appointed a Central Bank adviser for Bayba to work with the management of Bayba to try to see how best to take corrective measures to put the company back on track.

“Subsequent to that, it did not work very well and we decided to take this action of seizing the company which we term as a much stronger action” he said.

According to him, within the 90 days of the seizure which took effect on April 25th, 2007, the Central Bank of The Gambia will come up with a firm plan as to what to do with the company. He added “one of the options is to re-organise the company. After the 90 days, we will also come up with a view as to what is best to do but note that, one of the options definitely is to re-organise the company” he said.

Governor Saho added that, as a Central Bank, they do not want to close financial institutions noting that, it will be the last they will want to do. According to him, apart from the impact generally on confidence, they also want to see The Gambia’s financial system develop and help the country achieve its development aspirations. He reiterated:

“But again, the last that we will want to do is to close financial institutions in this country, though sometimes its an option. But obviously, it is an option, but we will always say that this is what we are going to do during this period that we have to conduct studies and look at the options available and who is a willing buy and whether the owners are ready to inject more capital into it or not” he said.

Governor Saho then reassured the customers dealing with Bayba to note that they are dealing with an organization that is under the management of the Central Bank of The Gambia and that their funds are safe. “With Babya, we will make sure that the depositors do not suffer and I have the support of government adding that all dealers and depositors with Bayba can continue as it is safe under the Central Bank of the Gambia management. In short, all those conducting business with Bayba during the CBG management can rest assured that their monies are safe’ he concluded.

Most waste experts agree, the first step in waste control is to reduce, reuse and recycle.  Reduce refers to lessening the amount of items or resources that are consumed, using only the amount that is needed, and looking for alternatives that will lessen our use.

Recycle means to process old, used items in order that the material can be used to make new products. Examples of things that are often recycled are glass, plastic, newspapers, aluminum cans, used motor oil, and batteries.  It is imperative that Gambia reduces waste in every sector including residential waste; construction waste; retail waste including retail stores, hotels and restaurants and bars; medical waste; pharmaceutical waste, office waste; automotive waste, and computer and electronics waste.  

Reduce

One of the best ways to reduce consumable waste is to reduce packaging.  The more packaging, the more waste.  That is why selling in bulk form is more sustainable than packaged goods.  Bulk products reduce waste and retail cost.  

Items like grains and flours, sugar, beans, cereals, honey, oil and water can be sold bulk.  Hygiene systems would have to be institutionalized by retailers so that products are not handled by the human hand.  Effective storage technologies have now been developed to protect bulk products from moisture and pests and therefore packaging is not needed.  

All those plastic bottles containing pharmaceutical drugs just pile up on the earth, why can’t pharmacies buy drugs bulk and dispense them in biodegradable packaging?  

We all can commit to using biodegradable reusable bags for our shopping thereby reducing plastic bag pollution.

This can be done simply by returning to Gambian practice of taking baskets to shop and carry our purchases.  Other biodegradable bags can be made of baobab, cotton or other natural fiber. There are too many waste reduction approaches to discuss here.  If, however, Gambia does not become aggressive in the development of waste reduction policies and practices, future generations will have to address the waste nightmare created today.

Reuse

Gambia also needs to be systematic about reuse practices especially of glass and plastic containers.  Exactly what are the restaurants and hotels doing with their glass and plastic waste?  We should reuse all glass and plastic containers?  Instead of merchants in the market selling liquids like oil and palm oil in plastic bags, why can’t they reuse glass bottles?  

Perhaps one of our greatest assets goes into the waste stream, which is our organic matter waste.  All the raw peals from vegetables like oranges, onions and potatoes or raw egg shells could be composted for use in the agriculture sector.  It is even possible to put arid soils into reuse with the use of organic matter.  

Our organic matter waste is all around us, dropped tree leaves that we rack up and throw-away to the waste from raw fish throw away.  Even coffee grinds are good for the soil.

Any RAW (UNCOOKED) organic matter builds the soil.   We could do this by instituting a compost collection system that is tied to our waste collection system.  People can also make personal non-assisted commitments to composting for their personal use and to share with others.  Believe me, your fruit trees and other plants will flourish with a top dressing of compost.  

Composting is easy.  Just keep your raw waste in a bucket, throw it in a secluded area in your compound and cover with soil, turn your pile once or twice a week and now and then water your pile to increase the rate of decomposition.  When the portions of the pile completely decompose you will have a rich compost to apply to any and all of your horticulture, except plants that prefer poor soils.

Recycle

We also need to strengthen and expand our recycling efforts from aluminum, steal and glass to newspapers and ink cartridges.  What happens to all those metal cans and metal tops from milk, sodas, juices and alcoholic beverages?  If recycling of paper is not economically and/or environmentally feasible, then a program of composting paper should be studied, however, potential impacts on the environment by artificial colors and chemicals that may be present from paper bleaching processes need to be investigated.

To reduce potential contamination from artificial ink and chemicals in paper from bleaching, we should encourage the use of unbleached paper and vegetable dyes across Gambian society.

Ink cartridge companies have recycling programs.  Businesses that use cartridges should commit to sending their used cartridges back to these companies for recycling.

Clearly mass education and government policy on waste is direly needed.

Youths in business is your business

In this portion of MARKET BEAT (MBEAT) we try and feature those youths that are involved in the very bread and butter of things to create and craft a life of success leading to the establishment of big businesses for the promise of the big and great times that lies ahead of them. I a very impressed with these bunch of youths who one way or another, who are graduates or products of the farms and our rural communities, who are seasoned travellers or home boys, who are in government or private sector, all of whom are doing their own things or supporting some things done by way of business and open their own companies and enterprises.

These people are the building the blocks to wealth creation in our very Gambian societies and through them they create employment and help to promote our Gambianess and commerce. They are the pillars in which we all sought shelter as far as the economy is concern and they are the very important players who make sure we have the country moving but never get mentioned. They are my heroes and they deserve our encouragement and blessings so that they are able to grow, and grow to big and bigger businesses so that even if not for the employment creation they could serve as household Gambian names complementing the TAFs and AMADOUs who are so far getting more than their fair share of the GAMBIAN SAVVY ELITE BUSINESS SQUAD name praising and name singing.

I wish we have a new contingent joining them at the top so that the youths can believe that hard work and disciple can earn them the respect and good name attain by those two distinguished gentlemen afro-mentioned.

In so doing they are also building the block to a good life for them selves and their families. That will also spread out to the wider society thereby creating more opportunities to the people resident in this country be it Gambian and Non-Gambian alike.

In the Gambia today the youths are heeding the constant calls to economical emancipation and they can be seen at the fore front of trying to develop this country and come up with good and great ideas. We as nation and a people must move forward and we need ideas and brave men to push those radical changes and concept into each and every one of us. Market Beat will try band visit, locate and speak with those crËme de la crËme of pioneers Gambian businesses to unearth the secret behind their great contributions and how the rest of us can take a lecture or two to follow suit.

Nation building is a mathematical equation that all figures have a role to play so does each and every one of us. Together we can make it but only if we try and we must stick together as a nation and a people to make it work. We must also be our brother’s keepers in the march to development and economic emancipation. There is no better time than now to start the ship ahoy and heed the national call to development.

These bunch of youths to me deserve our every support that they can get be give it our patronage and blessings.

This week we have the privilege and honour to feature MR. GENUNG SUSO THE PROPRIETOR AND OWNER OF QUALITY PRINT ENTERPRISE, one of th brightest and hottest emerging Gambian youths towing the line to the Big-Time in business. I was very impressed by this gentleman as he represented a real hungry Gambian youth and he serves as an embodiment of a real Gambian youth, true and our interview goes, thus:

Kawsu Badjie, an ex Corps member of the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSS) and also the chairman of the interim executive committee of NYSS Alumni Association, today left Banjul for the republic of Mali, where he will attend a month long training in Electrical Installation at Soufouroulaye Centre.

The training organised by the ECOWAS Commission for Youth and Sports Development Centre, in collaboration with the Ministry for Youth matters of the Republic of Mali, aims at promoting youth integration in the formal sector, developing youth entrepreneurship in the area of electricity and also to render support to young people by building the capacity of youth who are presently engaged in Home Electrical Installation in all ECOWAS member states.

Meanwhile, the training which will bring together fifteen youth from the sub-region will commence on 10 April and will end on 8 May, 2008.

At the end of the training, each participant is expects to go home in addition to the knowledge gained, $600 as grant to boost their businesses by purchasing equipment and other essential materials.

Speaking to the Daily Observer, soon before his departure, Kawsu Badjie, who now operates his own Air Conditioning, Electrical and Refrigeration workshop, commended the NYSS for its splendid strides in ensuring the development of the human resource base of The Gambia.

“Indeed NYSS has changed the lives of many of us. It is as a result of the training we got at the NYSS that most of us are capable of running our own workshops and also doing very well in our places of work. I must confess that the scheme is on course. Upon my return from Mali, I will strive hard to serve my nation by putting into good use the knowledge gained”, Kawsu promised.