In what seems like yet another disastrous public policy blunder, huge piles of refuse are said to be ubiquitous in markets and other public places all around The Gambia as we pen this report – the result of the recent ill-advised Presidential Directive yanking tax collection duties from the Municipalities and Area Councils and handing them to the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA).
As this paper reported a week ago, this transfer of tax collection responsibility has left the Municipalities and Area Councils with no funds to run their day-to-day operational needs like buying fuel for dump trucks, Cash-Power for electricity, etc. The reason for that is; the new chain of command they have to go through in order to tap into the tax funds is so confusing and also fraught with all kinds of bureaucratic huddles.
Under the new arrangement, all taxes collected by the GRA from markets, rental shops/stalls, trade licenses, compound rates, land transfer fees among others throughout The Gambia are paid into an account at the Central Bank to which only the President, Yaya Jammeh has full access and control. In order for the Municipalities and Area Councils to have access to the funds, they have to go through Yaya Jammeh himself which is posing all kinds of problems especially in light of the fact that he is mostly inaccessible. As one unhappy source put it “GRA is only collecting the funds, they do not have access to it. They cannot provide funds to Area Councils and Municipalities. All requests for funds will be sent to the Office of The President”.
The situation is understandably causing a lot of distress among market vendors of Kanifing Municipal Council where according to sources; heaps of trash could be seen all over the Serekunda Market. The same sources stressed that the vendors have launched series of complains with the authorities there, all of which fell on deaf ears. Apart from the odor, their main concern at this point is the health hazards associated with this indifference to their welfare. The Point Newspaper in Gambia, last week quoted a market vendor who said “We want the relevant authorities to help us remove these heaps of refuse, as vendors are also entitled to a healthy environment,”
Meanwhile in the greater Banjul area, many shops are reported to have closed their doors for now because customers are avoiding their areas completely. Sources Faturadio contacted hinted that The Mayor of The Banjul City Council, Abdoulie Bah wanted to challenge the Gambia Government on the issue, but Yankuba Kolley, Mayor of The KMC advised him not to because the matter was an order from Yaya Jammeh himself, and since he (Yaya) doesn’t like to take advise from anyone, doing so could land him (Abdoulie Bah) in trouble.
True to form, the authorities continue to ignore the pleas from the general public but notices continue to come from The GRA through local newspapers further advising all and sundry to visit the nearest GRA Tax Office to make their tax payments, urging the public to cooperate with the Authority since they are; as they put it “collecting revenue for national development”.
Health experts Faturadio reached out to have expressed fears of disease outbreak in the country if this situation is not addressed.
