By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
The Gambia’s Minister of Tourism and Culture, Hamat NK Bah, described Brikama as filthy and urged the women in Brikama to ask the Yankuba Darboe-led Brikama Area Council to clean the town first, amidst the council’s decision to sue the National Road Authority and Police over the demolition of shops in the market.
The Tourism Minister made these comments while addressing the audience in Brikama on Saturday during the president’s Meet-The-People’s Tour.
“I will tell you this: those who are providing you with certain information, like the Brikama Area Council, telling you things that do not exist, tell them Brikama is dirty, and we want you to clean the town. Brikama is extremely dirty. Let the Council wake up and clean the town. That should be their number one responsibility,” he said.
Referring to Chairman Yankuba Darboe and his councilors, Minister Bah said that the council should focus on working for the region instead of engaging in meaningless talks when they have not done anything meaningful for the region.
Reaffirming Minister Bah’s statement, President Barrow also told the Brikama Area Council to clean Brikama and the council’s gate first because that’s the easiest work they can do, rather than saying they are going to help women market vendors.
Two weeks ago, the Chairman of the Brikama Area Council announced that the council passed a resolution to take legal measures against the National Road Authority and the Gambia Police Force over the demolition of canteens in the market that has left many women vendors without any place to sell their goods.
According to him, many affected vendors went to him to appeal for help because their source of income has been damaged.
