The staff and students of Mariama Kunda Arabic School in Mariama Kunda, Kombo North District, Western Region, are calling on the government, NGOs and other philanthropists to come to their aid in the form of providing classroom furniture and other educational materials to the school.

The school, which has an enrolment of over 100 students from its surrounding areas, was reported to be furnitureless since its inception.

In an interview with the Daily Observer, Sulayman Sowe, a concerned resident of the village, said the situation at the school demands urgent assistance from the general public, adding that the students, who are determined to be Arabic literate continue to face basic educational constraints every day.

“We really need assistance from the general public to change the current situation in the school.  Currently, some students come to school with empty plastic gallons, which they use as seats to attend classes, while some sit down on the floor,” Mr Sowe revealed. He appealed for assistance, noting that the students also deserve a conducive environment for effective learning.  

According to him, the Arabic school also needs assistance to expand its classroom block. He disclosed that the school has only one classroom block at the moment, adding that it is not enough for the school as their enrolment is continuosly increasing. Anybody who wishes to support the school can contact the school authorities on 9942533 / 7748777.

Recently, the issue of the high cost of living, precisely food, has persistently dictated the direction of global discourse.  

All along the ordinary people had been chitchatting, at least for as far as we know here in The Gambia. Little did some of us know that businessmen themselves have constraints! The recent call on the office of the President by members of the Manufacturers Association of the Gambia, suggests how intricate the situation is. Nonetheless, the formation of such a fraternity was in fact a giant step towards confronting inevitable problems in the business community. The members highlighted salient issues, among them: affordability of electricity and land accessibility.

We should say lucky them, because this is The Gambia. There has never been an iota of doubt as to the APRC government’s commitment towards empowering the private sector in The Gambia. But, as the president said, the plight of consumers, who make up the majority, comes first. Surely the assembled businessmen themselves are aware of that.

The atmosphere for business in this country, especially Gambian-owned businesses, has been the must conducive in the sub-region. This is attested to by the smooth sprouting of businesses; both local and foreign-owned; while some are establishing it for the first time, others are forced to relocate to peaceful Gambia for reasons connected to instability and other factors, in their previous locations.

Promoting Gambian businesses would be in the best interests of the country and its people. Like President Jammeh said, the benefit of the many trade quotas we have unexploited can only be utilized by our business people. The idea of expatriate tax is also well placed in terms of safeguarding the employment prospects of Gambians. This is what any other government that has the interest of its citizens would do.

But the problems with our businessmen go beyond issues like electricity or land availability. Basically, it seems, we are all responsible for our present predicament. Anywhere you go in the world, locally produced products are logically supposed to be more affordable than imported goods, by virtue of the fact of the cost involved in importing from abroad. This is not to disregard the fact that there are other factors that can influence the cost of producing at home as well. Our problem in this regard is psychological. Simple!

It is worthwhile to note that it is at our best interest that we protect locally produced goods. Whatever is gotten from it is bound to remain here at home. The other point is that having been prepared at home, be they food stuff or any other products, they are items we are always familiar with, which we are more likely to relate to. In the case of food stuffs, rapid increase in mysterious health complications have constantly triggered suspicion, warranting us to question the role of some foods choices we have come to cherish so much at the expense of what we, ourselves, produce.

It is often argued that all our forefathers had known or eaten were what they produced, yet they had had an enviable life expectancy, with healthy living.

The problem, in a more general term, lies entirely in the mindset; the absurd feeling of superiority of imported goods over locally produced ones. This, among various other factors, is responsible to a great extent for the low level of business prospects in the country. If we are to stem this trend, it is imperative that we look into ways of reshaping the mindset of the people. Sensitization will certainly do a great deal of difference.

The fact that members of the manufacture’s association are themselves aware of their problems brings to mind the common adage that knowing about a constraint is a step closer to solving it.

If we, at our level, are to make any appeal, we can only remind Gambians of their moral responsibilities to support local industries. Of course, it is important to note also that our economy being a liberal one; we have a limit as to when to say no to import, and on which goods. But we are at liberty to prevail over the thinking of Gambians.

A five-day workshop on reform and modernisation of the Gambia Civil Service is currently underway at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.

The workshop aims to focus on three key areas of the civil service, namely compensation and benefits, institutional capacity factors, governance and management factors.

In his opening address, Mr Ousman Jammeh, secretary general and head of the Civil Service in The Gambia, said the workshop is to examine and analyse issues relating to capacity and constraints, both at the personal and institutional level in the public services. He therfore noted that public servants and public institutions must play pivotal roles in efficent and effective formulation of policies, allocation of resources and delivery of services.

Mr Jammeh pointed out that the above objectives cannot be achieved without reform and modernisation of civil services structures. He then emphasized that The Gambia government is committed to a comprehensive public service reform in line with Poverty Reduction Strategy  (PRS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

The head of the Civil Service further stated that administrative reform and program for sustained development in the past were the starting points of reform and served as catalyst for a wider scope of reform in the socio-economic domain.

He said government has taken stock of the past reforms and the constraints they had and is now committed to venture into a new phase of civil service reform formulated in a home-grown fashion.

Mr Ousman Jammeh also told participants that President Jammeh’s vision to transform the country into a city state should serve as source of motivation to all.

For his part, Mr O G Sallah, permanent  secretary at the Personnel Management Office, said Civil Service Reform and its modernisation will  form the basis for socio-economic development  and will also continue to be given high priority in  development initiatives. He said the workshop provided the right forum for paticipants to revisit and re-align development activities for quality service delivery.

Mr Sallah finally thanked the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC) for the effort and initiative it has taken to sponsor the workshop.