The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Musa Ndow
2 November 2009
Over 2000 volunteers from Aljamdu village in Upper Niumi District of the North Bank Region, over the weekend converged at Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh's 3.5 hectares rice farm, located at the eastern part of the village.
Speaking at the site, Alhaji Arfang Bolong Fatty, deputy imam of the village, thanked President Jammeh for his support to the Islamic religion, citing his recent donation of sugar and rice throughout the country during the month of Ramadan. According to Imam Fatty, he and his followers will not leave any stone unturned when it comes to the issue of President Jammeh, noting that they have nothing to pay him but to say thank you.
He recalled the president's support to the village Gamo and and sending of 11 elders of the village for pilgrimage to Mecca last year. According to him, that came to him and the entire village as a surprise. Imam Fatty said the president has also given them 21 packets of corrugated iron sheets, 200 praying mats, 49 bags of rice and a basket of colanut amongst others as his personal contribution to the village's annual Gamo.
He used the opportunity to call on all and sundry to support President Jammeh. 'He is a leader who has the welfare of his people at heart; he is very much particular about his people and even those in the conflict.
'There was a day I was listening to him on Radio Gambia comdemning the fight in Cassamance. This is how a good leader should be,' Imam Fatty remarked. He then called for more prayers from the general public for God's continuous guidance and protection for President Jammeh and his people and assured the Gambian leader's representatives at the farm, of his vilagers and community's support.
Ba-Lamin Darboe, youth leader and vice chairman of the constituency, also assured the president of their support, noting that they would ever remain loyal to President Jammeh and his party. 'In fact come next election, if he wants we would count all our votes and give it to him, because he did something for us that nobody has ever done for us in the history of Aljamdu. He sent 11 elders of this village to Mecca and had also sponsored the village's annual Gamo and rehabilitated the mosque and equipped it with all the required materials,' said Darboe. The village youth leader also used the opportunity to appeal to government for help in rehabilitating their road. He described the condition of the road as terrible and added that it is the major road linking most of the villages in that part of the country.
He thanked the villagers, particularly the youths for the large turnout and added that the proceeds of the farms are being given back to them in the form of scholarship through the PEGEP and Jammeh Foundation for Peace. He also appealed for assistance in farming implements to enable them increase their production capacity next year. Another speaker at the farm was Musu-Kebba Camara, a traditional birth attendant. She spoke at length on the willimgness and commitment of women and President Jammeh's national development initiatives. She assured that they would support President Jammeh to the letter.
Camara also joined other speakers to reiterate the bad conditions of the road. According to her when they have good road network and farm implements, food self-sufficiency is sure to be attainable. Responding to the concerns raised by the farmers in the village, Ebrima JT Kujabi, who represented the Gambian leader at the farm, thanked the villagers for the massive turnout. He used the opportunity to call on the youths to participate in farming, noting that the more the country grows the lesser it imports.
He said youths play a very important role in farming, noting that most of the farmers even in the developed countries are youths and that he challenged them to tighten up their belts and work for the best. According to him, The Gambia is blessed with a leader who has the interest of his people at heart. 'Let us not be deceived by politicians, I am not here for politics, am only telling you what the president wants for you. You won't know that until when you travel,' said Kujabi. JT assured the farmers that in three years' time, every small and big village in this country would have electricity. He also revealed His Excellecy's plans to introduce community development projects in every village in the country, of which youths would be the major beneficiaries.
He urged youths to stay in their villages and disassociate themselves from the habit of illegally travelling to Europe. He assured farmers that 'there would come a time when you tell Gambian youths to travel they would refuse because no one among them would want to leave what they have in the country to look for anything else,' he stated
Kujabi urged the villagers to be aware of those he described as enemies of progress, who only aim bad for Jammeh's government. "His Excellency would support those supporting him" he remarked. He again assured them that many development initiatives are in the pipeline and that any development package for NBR, Aljamdu would not be spared, alluding to the massive improvement taking place in terms of insfrastructure, health, education, amongst other things in the North Bank Region.
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