See also....
Drug agency
seized 315kgs of cannabis, suspect at large
NAMs warns of
possible river transport disaster
Dirty Streets:
14 businesses fined
Hunger-Stricken Farmers
said: We need seeds and fertilizer
The effect of the Sahel
drought
|
Farmers in Lower Baddibou, North Bank Region
and of Jarra East, Lower River Region
have told The Voice newspaper this
year’s farming season is the most difficult they ever lived.
“We lack everything that will make our work easy.
Everything that will give us a good harvest - seeds, fertilizer, and even
tools,” one farmer said.
“I cannot cultivate all my land because I did not
have enough seeds. We were given government subsidized groundnut seeds but even
that is very small,” said Mr. Ahamadou Jobe, Torroba village, who was speaking to
this paper during a Gambia Red Cross food and fertilizer coupon distribution tohunger-stricken rural farmers.
He added: “If we do not have groundnuts it means we got
nothing. We usually sell the proceeds from our groundnut farms to fend for our
families.”
Mr. Jobe noted in a rather helpless tone that the
only hope of acquiring fertilizer is the coupons given to us by the Gambia Red
Cross Society (GRCS). “We do not even
know if that one will be enough,” he said.
We are facing another big problem, the lack of farming
tools. If we want to eat our harvest for a year round we need to have enough
faming tools, seeds and fertilizer without which it will be difficult eradicate
hunger in the Gambia, he added.
According to him, since 1999 his harvest never took
his family a year to consume; it only takes seven months or less. We are
handicapped by the lack of farm implements, he said.
For me, I have neither received seeds, food or
fertilizer from anyone not even the government. If it were it not for the Red
Cross life for my family would have been very difficult, said Mr. Modou Touray of Kerr Ardo village.
“But what the Red Cross gave us will not be enough to ensure a bumper harvest
at the end of the rainy season.”
He continued “And if that happens, I think the
hunger crisis will continue.” Mr. Touray is hoping that other aid agencies will
reach out to them with more seeds and fertilizer as a way of ending hunger in
the region.
We need more materials including seeds and
fertilizer, we have a lot of land unused, said Mr. Saidou Dem, a native
of Dongoroba village in Jarra East, who specializes on growing millet, maize
and groundnut.
However, the
Seyfo (local Chief) of Jarra East, Mr. Ansumana Kanaji said if Gambians follow
the footsteps of the president, then Gambia will not import rice into the
country in the near future.
The local political head simply said Gambians should
pay heed to the president’s back to the land call.
He commended the Red Cross for what he called a “timely
intervention”, saying the fertilizer will be very vital to the farmers in this
year’s rainy season.
Drug agency
seized 315kgs of cannabis, suspect at large
Cocaine bust, estimated to worth $1 billion, June 2010,
Banjul.
|
Gambia’s anti-illicit drug agency, the National Drug
Enforcement Agency, on June 6, 2012 announced it had seized 315 kilograms of
cannabis sativa at Sibanor village, Foni Brefet District, West Coast Region of
the Gambia.
The NDEA said the suspect, believed to be a
Senegalese could not be caught in the July 2 operation as he fled the scene.
NDEA’s Public Relation Officer, ASP Abdoulie Ceesay,
told journalists at a press briefing that the cannabis was seized from a horse
cart used by the suspect to transport the illicit drug from the troubled
Senegalese region of Cassamance to the other side of the region.
ASP Ceesay said his agents laid an ambush at the
Jakoi and Paima River in Foni Berefet, which lasted 6 hours overnight. The
suspect only appeared the following day and when the NDEA agents tried to
arrest him he managed to escape and fled into the bush.
He said a search was conducted into the bush but he
could not be found. Now the NDEA is in possession of the suspected trafficker’s
horse cart and 13 bags containing 300 bundles of cannabis.
“The case is currently under investigation pending
the arrest of the suspect,” he said.
In another development, Mr. Ansu Sanyang, 28, a
resident of Foni Sumita in the West Coast region is currently being held by the
NDEA since July 1, 2012 following a raid at his house.
“Ansu Sanyang’s house was put under thorough search
and the officers were able to discovered 24 bundles of cannabis which was
concealed in the ceiling. Some quantities of cannabis were also found in a pot
hidden under the bed,” ASP Ceesay explains.
He said the accused is currently helping drug officers
in their investigations.
On July 2, Alieu Bah, a resident of Brikama Jeddah
was also arrested by the NDEA at his residence following a notice to NDEA that
the suspect has travelled to the Southern Senegalese region of Cassamance to
collect his cannabis consignment.
ASP Ceesay explained that the NDEA laid an ambush in
the outskirts of Jeddah in the early hours of Monday. The suspect showed up at
1am on his bicycle. He was caught with 23 bundles of suspected cannabis.
ASP Ceesay noted the suspect has been charged
pending further actions, as he is currently helping the NDEA in their
investigations.
According PRO Ceesay, all three suspects have been
charged with drug trafficking contrary to section 43 subsections (4e) of The
Gambia Drug Control Act and section 33 subsection (1a) of the same Act.
Drug
trafficking offences in the Gambia carries a fine of not less than 10 million
Dalasis and an imprisonment of not less than 10 years.
NAMs warns of
possible river transport disaster
National Assembly Members (NAMs) have warn of a
possible river transport disaster involving the worn-out ferries plying the
seven miles route between Banjul and Barra on a daily basis.
They said the ferries (Barra and Johé) are causing a
lot of alarm and this might result in a maritime disaster if the necessary
actions are not taken.
The four lawmakers’ comments came in the wake of a
public outcry over the current state of the ferries plying the Banjul-Barra crossing
point, describing the services offered as “poor.”
During a July 3, 2012 adjournment debate of the 2nd
legislative session of the National Assembly, the Member for Upper Niumi,
Hon. Mam Cherno Jallow, said the status of the ferries is unacceptable.
He said urgent necessary mechanisms must to be put in
place to end the undesirable situation. He said both ferries got jammed in sea a
few days ago, forcing passengers to spend the night on board.
“People are
really scared by the current condition. I have not boarded a canoe for over 25
years but I was forced to do so because both ferries were jammed in the sea and
I was on my way to attend a parliament sitting,” Hon Jallow said.
The Barra Ferry, the oldest still operating is in very bad shape |
The situation of the ferries is creating a lot of fear
among the people uses the crossing point daily. Anytime I want to cross, I
don’t sleep that night, Hon. Ousman Bah, NAM for Sabach Sanjal, said.
“I will call people at the terminal to find out the
status of the ferries,” he continued, before calling on the authority responsible
for the operation of the ferries to stand on their feet and ensure that the
ferries are back in good shape.
When he took his turn, Hon. Ebrima Jammeh, NAM for
Foni Bintang, said the money used to buy two new ferries (which have not been
in use since July 2011 due to non-existent landing points) should have been
used to get two good engines for the two ferries that are currently working.
The Majority Leader and Member for Serrekunda East, Hon.
Fabakary Tombong Jatta, simply said the issue of the Banjul-Barra ferries service
is a cross-cutting one.
The Kanilai Ferry, the newest is also in bad shape |
He described the delay in the operation of the newly
bought ferries as sabotage, and said that the landing points should have been
constructed well before the arrival of the ferries.
The
Voice newspaper understands the Kanilai Ferry, being the newest among the old
ferries is not also in good shape and had recently been spending three or more
hours to cross the 11 kilometers route, something that had taken it 15 minutes
when it arrived newly in 2010.
Dirty Streets:
14 businesses fined
14 business enterprises have been fined D1000
($33.3) on June 9, 2012 after a Magistrates Court convicted them of littering,
a crime committed in the streets of the Kanifing Municipality, a few kilometers
from the Gambian capital, Banjul.
Magistrate Modou L.K Bojang, presiding, ruled that
each pay a D1000 or their owners face a jail term of one month. The convicts
then decided to pay the money than risk going to jail.
They were charged with “discharge of solid waste
into the public street”, and when they were arraigned before the lower court,
they all pleaded guilty as charged. They were not represented by a counsel.
They include: Algadir F. Trading, Moribolong
Enterprise, Balaji Enterprise, M. N. Enterprise, Aisamala Enterprise, E.M Kay
Stores, Mex Ventures, Bhumca Enterprise, Guru Nanak Enterprise, Kishan
Enterprise, Rocco Distribution, A.O.K Enterprise, Albaraka Enterprise and Shortcut
Enterprise.
Prosecution said the business owners actions
(discharging solid waste into the public streets) are contrary to Section 3
(2a) of the Anti-Littering Regulations of 2007. The Court heard that on or about 2nd
July, 2012 at the Kanifing Municipality in the Republic of the Gambia, they
unlawfully and willfully discharge solid water from their properties to the
public street and thereby committed an offence.
On behalf of the accused cum convicts, Mr. Amadou
Fatajo, proprietor of Moribolong Enterprise pleaded for the Court to forgive
them. “This shall never happen again. We are all first time offenders in the
eyes of the law,” he said.
He revealed that each shop at the Jimpex (a
predominantly building material dealing center), has paid D2400 to Kanifing
Municipal Council (KMC) for garbage collections.
“But they are not collecting the garbage and we will
take up the matter with the KMC,” he stressed.
Surprisingly, the Prosecutor, Mr. Dampha who does
not want his full name to be on newspapers, urged the court to temper justice
with mercy. The National Environment Agency (NEA) employee said since the beginning
of the monthly cleansing exercise (Set-setal) there has never been any report
from Jimpex and they are all first time offenders.
All Stories Courtesy of The Voice Newspaper, Serrekunda, The Gambia
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