Mr. President, building a better Gambia calls for serious reflections on the state of the nation, and if need be, to call for the experience, expertise and professional views of those who know and are in retirement or in the private sector.
Consultations outside the official circles will enhance decision making in governance. Sometimes, insiders would not give a true picture of the state of the nation for job security reasons, interest and greed. We cannot move forward as a country without frequent electricity and reliable water supply which are basic needs of human beings. Your government should meet the challenges of ensuring that transport union and oil marketing companies' strikes, health crisis are avoided.
Mr. President, our justice system should be empowered by employing motivated staffs to avoid long trials and those remanded for a long time in prisons to have their cases reviewed to determine whether they should face justice or to be released.
Mr. President, there is a need to have a director of prosecution and deputy which the Commonwealth could help through technical assistance; for about seven years such posts have been vacant. This would greatly assist the judiciary to deliver timely justice in the country. It would also earn your government a good human rights record.
Mr. President, in these troubling times and difficulties in Gambia and around the globe, we must have the capacity to think and strategise the development agenda, and the peace and stability of the nation. This is the urgency of the situation and we expect the government to act in a decisive manner to put things on track for the common good and respect financial discipline in government departments.
Mr. President, you need to establish your legacy in this second term and therefore, there cannot be any compromise with complacency and failing sectors of the economy. The public impression is that you don't fire officials including ministers and when they are removed from office, they are compensated with diplomatic appointments. In the absence of no consequences in governance, public officials will get away with wrong doings and for failing the nation in their duties and sectors. A more proactive approach to manage the situation of the country is the answer to building a new Gambia.
Mr. President, the Commissioner of Mobile Traffic, Lamin King Colley, has disclosed that over 681 road traffic accidents/crashes have occurred in the country since January this year.
According to him, hundred and nine (109) people have died as a direct consequence of the 681 accidents.
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The police should be vigilant to monitor the issuance of driver's licence to avoid backdoor transactions. Furthermore, the government should put in place a mechanism to ensure vehicles imported into The Gambia are road worthy and must not have been used for more than eight years. We should also avoid vehicles that lack good brakes and those that are polluting the environment.
We should remind ourselves that lack of proper vehicle testing and inspection, unqualified truck drivers, allowing old vehicles beyond eight years to be imported into the country, bad roads construction especially in the Fonis, and so forth all contribute to the high road traffic accidents in the country.
The Police should be supported to effectively carry out their responsibilities in maintaining security and order in the country. They should not also shy away from accountability.
Finally Mr. President, the NEA, GRA, GPF should come together and ensure the government initiates a new policy to ban all imports of vehicles beyond eight or more years into the country. The issuance of driver's licence needs to be reviewed with more stringent measures to be in place. The NRA needs to reconstruct the roads in Foni to ensure the removal of all bends (curves) for smooth, straight and defensive driving. Heavy penalties should be imposed on reckless drivers.
Insurance companies should be held accountable for issuance of policy to unworthy vehicles. Police should admit their shortfalls and call for concerted efforts of stakeholders to save The Gambia from vehicle insecurity and traffic incidents.
The traffic police should work harder to avoid the increasing road traffic we are experiencing in the Gambia nowadays.
Good Day!
