The Independent (Banjul)
25 April 2005
column
Banjul — The management of the National Water and Electricity Corporation, NAWEC, has issued a stern warning to members of staff not to take instructions from anybody, especially members of the National Intelligence Agency, attached to the Corporation, but only from the management for the smooth running of the corporation.
Information leaked to Grapevine noted that the warning pinpointed that the NIA personnel who are attached to the corporation are there on a special mission. The memo pointed out that their interference is affecting the smooth running of the corporation.
Instructions dealing with the day to day activity of the corporation to enhance the smooth running of its operations come only from the management.
Our Streets are now Garages
Most of our streets are now being used as garages by many mechanics.
Even when they rent a compound for their garages, most of the cars' maintenances are done in the streets. This is obstructing our streets thus blocking the traffic.
The police should MOUNT a campaign against them, because they are making a lot of money, and most of them do not pay taxes.
The municipal police also have a role to play in it as the KMC collects compound rates. Since this is happening in the municipality, the laws should be enforced. Some cars are stripped naked and the scrapped vehicles are left in the streets.
Is it that the garage owners put money into their (police) pockets? How much municipal tax do these street garages pay to the KMC, when they disturb compound owners to pay municipal tax which has been doubled 100 fold.
Donations for the U-17 Competition
Have you listened to Sportfile on West Coast Radio recently?
Grapevine was surprised to hear that most of the institutions and business -men who made pledges towards the fundraising drive for the competition have not fulfill their promises.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr. Tombong Saidy was even appealing to those people over the radio to make clean their promises.
Radio Kankan has it that most of the people who made pledges are afraid to make clean their promises in the wake of the implementation of the recommendations of the Paul Commission of Inquiry.
They do not want to make their donations and then be invited to face the anti-corruption inquiry.
Most of the institutions who are sponsors of the competition are doing this in order to make some profits out of it. How much money did they pump into the organisation. The money they are using to make all the advertisements on radios and newspapers could have played a very significant role.
Again according to Radio Kankan , it is said that the committee has only collected D4 million as against the D40 million they are looking forward to collect.
Land Grabbers Many people are now victims of land grabbing in this country. People just do want they want without any action being taken against the grabbers. But who is to blame? Grapevine feels that the Alkalolu are the very people to be blamed for this. They can give a plot of land to three or four different people once there is money and kola nut.
Recently in the Kombos, there have been lots of complaints about this.
Grapevine learnt about the beating to coma of a middle-aged woman, when a man started putting fence posts on her compound. The Alkalolu never confirmed these complaints. In the very area, it was said that a farm was set on fire because of a similar problem.
The Department of State for Local Government and Lands, should come up with a way to sort out these problems, before they get out of hand.
A Commission of Inquiry should be set up to investigate land problems.
It could be recalled that during the last opening of Parliament by President Jammeh, he made mention of land problems, saying that people where acquiring vast acres of land claiming to be farms which they later on divided into plots and sold. The President also said that his government will not encourage such. People now applying for lands should state whether it is for residential or agricultural purpose.
Congrats Mr. SoS
Grapevine is here congratulating the SoS for Works, Construction and Infrastructure, Mr. Bala Jahumpa for the various road projects around the Kanifing Municipality.
On the Kanifing road project costing D4.7 million, he said the areas under construction housed the country's only University, MDI, GRTS, two Departments of State, several schools, a hospital under construction, the Post Office, shopping centres, among other important institutions.
As he rightly said,other important institutions, Grapevine agrees with him, The Independent newspaper is one of the important institutions. The Office of The Independent newspaper is situated along the stretch of road leading from the Post Office to MDI.
Bicycle License There are so many bicycles in the country now and most of the cyclists are nuisance on our roads.
Most of them are involved in road accidents, and they are not licensed.
KMC should introduce a license scheme for cyclists so that in the case of an accident, they will be covered as they are licensed to use our roads.
Also, most of these cyslists are school boys and the law should protect them.
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