Sovereign national assets must be protected by all governments, irrespective of party affiliation, that aim to maintain a sovereign republic. Without sovereign national assets there can be no sovereign republic. Foroyaa has repeatedly contacted the Gambia Ports Authority to get the full details of all its agreements so that they could be subjected to careful scrutiny in order to safeguard the national interest but has not succeeded in getting the cooperation of the authorities.

Now that the cracks are beginning to appear, full disclosure is necessary before the country finds itself before an international court of arbitration that would cost the country more tax payers' money in legal fees and court settlement.

All that glitters is not gold says the old saying. Public enterprises ought to be transparent in their undertakings. There are mature thinkers in this country capable of scrutinizing agreements to determine what in the long, medium and short term could or could not serve the national interest. Full disclosure is necessary to enable the nation to engage in a constructive conversation on what is best for one of our most prestigious national assets, the port of Banjul.

We will contact the authorities for more information.