The Daily Observer (Banjul)
31 March 2008
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Madam Speaker
It is with great honour and immense pleasure that I stand here this evening to address this august gathering on the occasion of the state opening of the National Assembly for the first Legislative Session of 2008.
I want to give thanks first and foremost to the Almighty for the great bounties of peace, security and stability He has showered upon our dear nation and for giving us the strength, the resources and the will to continue our noble and challenging task of national development.
Madam Speaker, let me also take this opportunity to commend you and the members of this Honourable Assembly for the successful Legislative Year of 2007. In your debates, where bills and motions were passed, loan agreements ratified and the works of the various select committees, this August Assembly has helped to strengthen Gambian democracy, promote good governance and pave the way for growth and development of our people as envisaged in Vision 2020. I am confident that 2008 will be one of the most remarkable years of our democracy, as we all work together to realise the core aspirations of our people to attain a better life for all and sundry.
Madam Speaker, a lot of milestones have already been achieved, however, a lot more work still needs to be done if we are to achieve our dreams and aspirations of moving this country to higher heights. I will highlight some of the key development challenges we have been facing, and some of the success areas as well as our plan for 2008.
Finance and Economic Affairs
Madam Speaker,
The macro economic environment continues to improve significantly as a result of policies implemented by my Government. GDP growth of 6-7 percent was experienced in 2007; inflation has reduced to single-digit level of 5.1 percent (end January 2008), the exchange rate of the dalasi has stabilized and international reserves have been built to a comfortable level of 4.5 months of import cover. Nonetheless, the country still faces many development challenges.
My Government's economic policy for now and for the future will continue to be shaped by efforts geared towards substantially reducing poverty and attaining the MDGs.
On the issue of debt, my Government will continue to promote a strategy of careful management of the country's external debt to finance PRSP II priorities, without compromising debt sustainability. A key challenge is to maintain a sustainable external and domestic debt position through careful borrowing and prudent fiscal policy.
The financial sector continues to be deepened and vibrant as new banks and foreign exchange bureaux were licensed to operate. This is expected to increase competition leading to introduction of diverse banking products and nationwide branch expansion. The ultimate objective of my Government is to make The Gambia a world class financial centre and Allah willing, this would e realized sooner rather than later.
Personnel Management Office
As the lead institution responsible for human resource management, the Personnel Management Office continues to play a crucial role in he public service sector reform.
The PMO in collaboration with the UNDP prepared a strategic sector paper within the framework of the PRSP II covering 2007 - 2011.
Among the key issues proposed is the establishment of the public sector Capacity Building Board to coordinate and direct the civil service reform programme; the review of salaries and allowances of civil servants; the full computerisation of Government Payroll and other critical data like leave, disciplinary and other components of Human Resources Information system.
The training of the critical mass for Public Service would be given the highest priority especially as my Administration plans to fill 50% of the key Civil Service positions with young blood fresh from universities. This will augur well with our stated objectives of achieving our Vision 2020 objectives.
Higher Education
Madam Speaker, Honourable Members,
To guide policy development and supervision of the Higher Education Sector, the Department of State for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology was created in January 2007.
A major pre-occupation of the Department now is the development of a policy framework for the sub-sectors of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology. The integration of tertiary education to render it more cost effective and sustainable is ongoing.
In line with my Government's desire to promote science-based education and training of young Gambians, new scholarship programmes have been negotiated with friendly countries such as Venezuela, Cuba, Taiwan, Malaysia and others in fields like medicine, computer science, engineering, petroleum geology etc.
In the same vein, an Academy of Science and Technology is being built in Kanilai and enrollment of students is expected in September this year. Our objective is to have our first batch of Home-trained Scientists in seven years time, and build up a core of Scientists from there on. This would of course be complemented by Scientists that are currently undergoing training overseas.
Basic and Secondary Education
Madam Speaker,
My Government will continue to give priority to Early Childhood Development (ECD), given the role it plays, in ensuring readiness for formal schooling.
To enhance literacy and numeracy amongst the population, through Adult and Non-formal Education, a public/private partnership approach has been developed to empower NGOs and CBOs to deliver quality literacy programmes. Under this strategy, along with other interventions, it is expected that illiteracy rate will be halved by 2015.
I wish to seize this opportunity to stress on the need for discipline in our schools and training institutions, because discipline is the foundation for good citizenship, for patriotic citizenship.
Henceforth, there will be zero tolerance for any act of indiscipline in our schools. School principals have the task of enduring that discipline is maintained to the letter in schools under their control. Just as academic records of pupils are kept so should the disciplinary record of every student be kept in the schools. From now on government scholarships for local and overseas training will be given out based now only on the academic record of an individual, but also on his or her disciplinary record. This is because a nation with a few highly disciplined academics has a brighter future than one with thousands of highly disciplined academics. Therefore, henceforth, discipline would be the determining factor for sponsorship.
Health and Social Welfare
Madam Speaker and Honourable Members,
The provision of essential, quality health care is a pre-requisite for overall social progress.
Health system strengthening will be extensively pursued, in 2008. This will be achieved through aggressive training of doctors and nurses as well as community doctors to stem the brain drain in the sector and to ensure that healthcare is delivered to the doorsteps of our communities.
The strategic targets in the Health master plan for 2008 include reducing infant mortality from 86 per 1000 to 79 per 1000 2008; maternal mortality reduced from 730 per 100,000 to 2.6 per 100,000 in 2008. This ultimate objective of my administration in the long term, is to achieve all the MDGs on health as well as reach standards higher than most Western Countries. We shall achieve this Allah Willing.
The new orientation of the Department of State for Agriculture is one of administrative rationalization and modernization, aimed at self-sufficiency in food and export, in line with Vision 2020.
From now on, agriculture will no longer be a seasonal activity based on the short seasonal rains, but one that will be an all-year activity and taking full advantage of the new technologies available.
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