Speaking at at Ngain Sanjal on Day Three of his nationwide tour, President Barrow called on Gambians to be law abiding and have respect for the law enforcement agencies.
The police, he says, play an important role in maintaining peace and order. He therefore advocates for people to respect the police.
He cites instances where people would attempt to obstruct the police while doing their work.
This, according to him, is not what democracy calls for.
People, he said, were arrested and prisoned [such as Lawyer Darboe and Hamat Bah] and in some instances some disappeared in the past government but people never protested.
But in this new dispensation, Barrow says, people are now in the habit of protesting without even following the due process of securing a permit.
The same power the past government had under Jammeh is the same powers his government has, he told Gambians. But his government, he told the meeting, will not abuse that powers by acting in manners outside the law as it used to be.
To journalists, Barrow advise them to be objective in their reporting.
He accused some journalists of being induced by some individuals to report negative news about other people.
He claims that some journalists have even asked him to pay them to be reporting only positive stories about him.
He vows not to give money to any journalist (s) to report good things about him.
On agriculture, he said, the sector is very important for the self independence of any country.
The Gambia, he told the Ngain Sanjal Meeting, is blessed with the land to produce rice more than any other country, but the country continues to depend highly on imported rice.
He calls for attitudinal change for the development of the country.
Here, locals lamented water, electricity, roads, farming equipment and fertilizer as the key things affecting them. They also appealed for Skills Training Centres in the area to reduct the number of young people leaving for the Greater Banjul Area.
In respond, he promised that the government will address the concerns raised with the implementation of the 2018-2021 National Development Plan.
