The Upper Niumi Sports Development Committee last Saturday held its congress at  Kerr Mama.

The delegates, drawn from all the major villages in the district, elected a ten-man executive which will take charge of all the sporting activities within the next four years.

Speaking in an interview with Pointsports yesterday, the newly elected president Momodou K Bah said his plan is to foster  unity within the youth in the district and also to promote sports in the area noting that the committee will not only limit its activities in football and other sporting disciplines will also be promoted.

He pointed out that it is part of their plan to stage a district tournament

The executive comprises of the following people vice-president – Bai jerreh  Darboe , Secretary General Kemo Ceesay, assistant Makara Bakayoko, Treasurer Kabiro Jatta, Auditor ALH Mama Bah, assistant Lamin Dampha and PRO  Modou Sarr

The Latriya Nawettan Sports Committee final, sponsored by the President of The Gambia Football Association Mr. Seedy MB Kinteh, is expected to take place on Sunday at Latriya Village.

Speaking in an interview with Pointsports yesterday, the chairman of the Village Sports Committee, Omar Sallah, said that all the necessary preparation has been done for the forthcoming final.

He said the final will be play between Latriya United and Super Eagles of Yuna.

Mr. Sallah commended the GFA President Mr. Seedy MB Kinteh for the good sponsorship for this year’s Nawettan, noting that the grand final is expected to be graced by the sponsor and other high profile sport authorities

The vice-president, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, who is also the chairperson of the National Disaster Relief Committee has called on relevant authorities to ensure conformity to standards as a way of minimising the intensity and devastating consequences of disasters in the country.

The vice-president made this observation while presiding over the presentation of cheques, totalling D317,392, to the various regional governors, for onward transmission to their respective regional disaster relief committees.

At the ceremony, the vice-president commended President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh for initiating the committee. She then identified a series of issues she thought should be looked into if the country is to remedy her disaster incidents. She highlighted the issues of construction of houses, citing the incidence of people building their houses in lowland areas, exposing themselves to the dangers of flooding. She pointed to Ebo Town which literally experiences disaster every year.

The vice-president expressed concern about the scrambling for lands and called on the relevant authorities to help regulate this abnormality.
She also pointed to “poor and unlawful” wiring as another cause of fire outbreaks. Even smokers were not spared by the vice-president, describing some of their activities as the cause of bush fires.

She then urged members of the disaster committee to make it a habit to go round the country, prior to the rainy season, to sensitise communities on the dangers of such activities. This, she said, would serve as a form of preventive measure against disasters in the country.

She emphasised that everybody is obliged to ensure the realisation of the goals of the committee and then took institutions like Gamworks, municipal authorities, and even private engineers, to task. She urged them to ensure that gutters and buildings conform to standards.

She further appealed for the judicious use of resources and urged the disaster committee members to institute a system that ensures that reports are sent in on a regular basis. This, she said, would explain whether the monies being ploughed for relief assistance are being put to good use.

She thanked UNDP and all other donors for their continued support.
Ousman Sonko, the secretary of state for Interior, urged the mayors and the regional governors to put the monies to good use.

The cheques were a donation from UNDP, whose representative at the meeting, Mr Essa Kamara, praised the National Disaster Relief Committee for its achievements. Mr Kamara, however, expressed the need for improvement in the area of transportation of relief materials and resource mobilisation, which he said, are problems currently hindering progress.

The national disaster relief coordinator, Mr Kah, said that the current disaster management project started in 2006, and that since its inception, they have been working closely with regional bodies.

He said that they had also opened regional disaster accounts in all the regional bodies, as well as formed local resource mobilisation committees.

The permanent secretary at the Department of State for Local Government and Lands, Abdoulie Manneh, said the presentation could not have come at a better time, considering the fact that the rainy season is here.

He pledged his department’s continued support towards the overall effort of ensuring a smooth disaster management coordinating system.
 
Momodou Soma Jobe, the governor of Lower River Region, expressed profound gratitude for the gesture on behalf of the beneficiaries. Mr Jobe assured the benefactors that the monies would be put to good use.

Global HOMM
In a separate engagement, the vice-president also received representatives of Global HOMM, led by Mr Byung In Barnabas, the director of Global Homme, a US-based medical institution which is working on providing clinical services in The Gambia. Global HOMM is currently constructing a clinic at Bijilo (Bijilo Clinic).

Mr Barnabas, a diplomat of the American Board of Paediatrics, told reporters that he and his team were at State House to make a follow up on the progress of the Bijilo Clinic Project, which he said had commenced about one-and-a-half year back.

He disclosed that the construction of the facility is at the finishing stage, adding that the paediatric section is in fact in operation, although not formally.

On the future plans of the clinic, Mr Barnabas said this featured during their discussion with the vice-president. He said they are currently operating in a low-key level, although the system is not yet fully in place.

A non-profitable organisation, which started in the state of Virginia in the United States, Global HOMM is registered under the Federal Government of the US, and in The Gambia, as an NGO.

As PAC/ PEC Prepares to Receive Annual Reports

In what could be described as an ultimatum to all public enterprises and agencies, Hon. Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay, Speaker of the National Assembly, has warned that by 8thSeptember the joint committee of Finance and Public Enterprises of the National Assembly will proceed to take appropriate legal measures against defaulting agencies and enterprises that fail to submit their annual reports, accounts and financial statements by 2ndSeptember 2008.

Speaker Jahumpa Ceesay’s caution came as the National Assembly committees prepare to receive and consider annual reports and financial statements of all Public Enterprises/Agencies of the government of The Gambia.

The month-long exercise expected to be convened from Monday, 25thAugust 2008 to September 2008, will give the law-makers the opportunity to receive and consider annual reports and financial statements of all Public Enterprises/Agencies of the government of The Gambia.

So far only 20 Public Institutions and Enterprises are said to have complied with the constitution by submitting their reports, accounts and financial statements to the National Assembly on time for statutory considerations and scrutiny by law-makers, while about 22 are yet to do so.

This exercise is in pursuance of the powers bestowed on Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Public Enterprises Committee (PEC) of the National Assembly by the provisions of section 102, 109 and 110 of the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia, which require that the annual reports, accounts and financial statements of all Public Enterprises and Agencies that are funded wholly and partly by taxes from the people of The Gambia are jointly received and considered.

Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, 18thAugust 2008 at the National Assembly Chambers, the Speaker of the National Assembly noted that “the principal objective of this statutory exercise is to perform lawful checks, scrutiny and oversight over Public Enterprises and Agencies and the public service delivery systems with a view to ensuring that the Government of The Gambia and its public service delivery systems, institutions, enterprises and agencies are all accountable to the Gambian people.”

She however highlighted that the meeting is not out to witch-hunt anybody but designed rather to fully discharge the statutory duties entrusted to the National Assembly by the constitution and other laws of the country.

“It is our collective resolve and mandate to make sure that the loans we ratified here in this Assembly or grants secured on behalf of the Gambian people are properly accounted for,” she explained. “This we would all agree will boost donor confidence,” she added.

The Banjul Sports Committee has agreed a five -year sponsorship package with Sport House for the Nawetaan Knock-Out Competition.

This agreement is based on the common desire to work for the benefit of the community and to establish a co-operative relationship between the Committee and Sports House.

As part of the sponsorship deal, Sports House shall be considered as the sole sponsor of the Nawetaan Knock-Out Competition and will provide, among other things, a trophy for the competition winner and sets of jersey for the two finalists .

 A cash prize of D15, 000 and D10, 000 will also be awarded to the winners and runners up with another D10,000 for  the Committee’s administrative  duties.

Sports House will also be sponsor of the Banjul Super-Nawetaan team with sets of jersey during the tournament and another one if the team reaches the final with Sport House logo, together with 100 T-shirts.

In return the Banjul Sports committee will engage in the promotional aspects of the institution through the permanent placement of sign boards advertising Sport House at the Banjul Mini Stadium and also endeavour to assist Sports House to be the top brand in Banjul and the country.

According to the Nawettan Banjul journal, published by the Banjul Sports Committee, the move is a big boost for the Committee as it ensures stability and continued development of football for Banjul. It also serves as Sports House social responsibility of reinvesting back into the community where the General Manager was brought up.

Delegates of the Ebo Town Ward Development Committee, headed by councillor, Modou Lamin Badjie paid, on Tuesday, a courtesy call on Yankuba Colley, mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC). The move culminated from a desire to highlight their action plans and also to put forward a number of problems the Ebo Town Ward is encountering.

In his welcoming remarks, Mayor Yankuba Colley emphasized that his office is always open. He then vowed that the municipality will arrange to visit their ward so as to address some of the constraints within the ward. 

However, Mayor Colley also seized the opportunity to warn the committee that the municipality cannot resolve all the difficulties they face, but will deploy the necessary measures in order to remedy some of them.

In addition, he pointed out that problems cannot be solved by undermining the authority of the Alkalos as they are particularly attached to ward development matters.

For his part, Modou Lamin Badjie, councillor for New Jeshwang/Ebo Town Ward, highlighted some of the initiatives his ward has undertaken with the support of UNICEF.  According to him, the water supply facility, with a value of D50,000, was part of their numerous projects .

Other speakers included Alagie Basiru Jarra, newly appointed chairman, Health and Education, ward level and Bernice Saidy, second vice-chairperson of the committee. They all expressed gratitude to the KMC for its tireless support.