Ebrima Cham, the director general of Gamworks, has disclosed that his agency has acquired US$5 million, with the assistance of OPEC for International Development Fund (OFID), including a counterpart contribution from local government authorities, for the third public works project.

The multi-million Dollar project is subdivided into two components, comprising the civil works and capacity building.

Mr Cham made these remarks on Thursday, during the presentation of counterpart contributions by Basse and Mansakonko Area Councils to Gamworks, at a ceremony held at the Department of State for Local Government, Lands and Religious Affairs, Banjul.

According to the Gamworks boss, the civil works component worth about US$4 million, which entails financing sub-projects such as roads, water supply, market and toilets.

On the capacity building project, Mr Cham said the agency has secured US$620,000 for its implementation. He said: “Under this project, we are doing some trainings for local government authorities as well as the supply of information technology equipment to them.”

“Currently, we have hired the services of QuantumNet to do some Information Technology (IT) trainings for local government authorities and we will be having representatives from all the local government authorities to attend a three week IT training,” he added.

In conclusion, Cham assured the beneficiaries that Gamworks would buy computers for all the local government authorities to enhance their work.

Speaking earlier, Omar Sampho Ceesay, the chairman of Basse Area Council, said his council recently presented D500,000 to Nawec.

At the ceremony, Mr Ceesay presented a cheque for D516,480 to Ismaila Sambou, the secretary of state for Local Government, Lands and Religious Affairs, who handed over the cheque to the Gamworks director general.  This amount, he said, represented a counterpart contribution to the agency for the water supply project at Koba Kunda Village in Basse, Upper River Region.

For his part, Foday Camara, the chairman of Mansakonko Area Council, also presented a cheque for D240,000, as his council’s counterpart contribution to Gamworks for the construction of the Soma Market phase II project.  The cheque was also presented to SoS Sambou, who again handed it over to the Gamworks director.

Presently, Mr Camara continued, Mansakonko Area Council is undertaking two other projects in the region; the Bureng Lumo toilet project and a courthouse project for Jarra West.

In his statement, SoS Sambou thanked the councils and various authorities in different regions for their support to the development of the areas. He also used the occasion to pay tribute to President Jammeh, whose efforts he praised for the rapid socio-economic development in the country.

Omar Gibriel Sallah, permanent secretary of the Personnel Management Office (PMO) who doubles as the Director of the Management Development Institute (MDI) Board of Governors, has said that the robust civil service delivery system of the Gambia requires the right calibre of competent human resource personnel in the quest to quarantee effective service delivery as well as quality output and productivity.

PS Sallah made this remark yesterday while preciding over the opening ceremony of a three-week induction training course for the newly appointed cadet administrative officers of the civil service, organised by the PMO and the MDI.

The focus for the induction course is on strengthening the capacity of the newly recruited and solid group of middle level managers who can be retained for the future challenges of development. It will also go a long way in enhancing the civil service delivery, thereby equipping participants with the requisite and essential skills in areas such as usage of bureaucratic language and idioms, policy analysis concepts, tools and expertise in drafting of speeches, cabinet memorandum, treaties, memorandum of understandings, communiqués, amongst other pertinent areas of concern to them.

According to PS Sallah, the prime objective in this exercise is to provide a core of efficient staff, and a lean, effective and efficient system to deliver goods and services to the public in the most objective, cost efficient and beneficial manner. He added that there was a need for more qualified people in the service.

“Notwithstanding the said objective, the challenge for us is not only to move from a civil service built on the colonial model but one built on post colonial development model, based on the realities of today. This calls for structural change which has a robust training programme, with emphasis on management as opposed to mere routine administration,’’ he said.

The PMO boss added: “we have come to realise that our development aspirations cannot be realised if the well trained and competent people are not in the right places to stire and produce the right policies that will engender organisational changes necessary for this country to develop and prosper”.

He then maintained that the PMO, which emerged out of the former establishment secretariat, is an institution responsible for human resource development, noting that it was a practical oriented outfit requiring adequate resources and manpower to meet the dynamic challenges of personnel management.

He added that his office had evolved to render services and collaborate with various institutions in order to encourage training, recruitment, promotions, staff inspections and record management for more realisation of the goals and objectives of public sector reforms.

He then implored the inductees to actively listen and learn in a bid to serve both for their interest and that of the country, and he quickly reiterated the importance government attaches to the training. He also revealed his office’s intention to fund trainings of this nature every four months.

The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices affecting the health of women and children (GAMCOTRAP) with support from the Inter African Committee on Traditional Practices based in Addis Ababa has provided over one hundred thousand dalasi (D100,000,00) to nineteen circumcisers from the Upper and Central Regions to engage in alternative employment opportunities project.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Dr Isatou Touray, the Executive Director of GAMCOTRAP, said that the process involved series of trainings to create awareness amongst circumcisers on the effect of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and other harmful traditional practices.

Dr Touray called on the communities to support the circumcisers and emphasised the need for bringing up girls in al positive manner to be good role models in society without harm.

The chief of Kantora, Alhagie Bachu Ceesay of Garawol, Alkalo Lasana Manneh of Basse manneh Kunda amongst others reminded the circumcisers that they voluntarily stopped the practice of FGM after getting the facts about the event it has on sexual and reproductive health and they also called on them to make best use of the opportunity provided to them to enhance their economic status.

The Alkalo of Kaba Kama, Aji Fatou Danso commended GAMCOTRAP for the approach it takes to present facts on FGM with  respect and dignity in the communities. She noted that the support given to the circumcisers will go a long way towards addressing poverty in their families while protecting girls from harm.

In receiving the support, all the beneficiaries expressed their appreciation to GAMCOTRAP for fulfiling its promise and vowed to keep to their words to protect girl children from FGM.

The support is based on feasibility study amongst beneficiaries, followed by training on microfinance and management of small scale business enterprises. The circumcisers identified animal rearing, pettytrading, pottery, tie and dye and support to develop gardening as their areas of interest.

The ceremony was witnessed by eleven different Alkalolu, women’s leaders and family member of the circumcisers who have decided to stop practicing FGM