Attila Lajos, European Union Ambassador to The Gambia has said that the EU funds to the Barrow Administration are not meant for the construction of religious houses.
Ambassador Lajos made these statements at a roundtable discussion with journalists, dubbed ‘EU Press Breakfast’ held at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Kololi. He was asked about the recent comments of President Barrow regarding the construction of sixty mosques across the country.
“There is no fund that the EU pledged for the construction or reconstruction of religious places for both Muslims and Christians,” EU Ambassador Lajos said.
“That question should be directed to the government,” he added.
Ambassador Lajos said he only read the reports of President Barrow’s mosque construction comments on the newspapers.
President Barrow’s comments raised controversy that compeled the Office of the President to release a statement saying the funds for the construction of 60 mosques is not from the government but the President Barrow Youth Movement.
Some say the President’s youth group is a replica of the former President, Yahya Jammeh’s Green Youths. But, he defy all criticism by openly endorsing the youth group and promised to empower them.
There are questions about who really is the group’s financier?
Abubacarr Tambadou, Attorney General and Minister of Justice has once said at a press conference that the President’s youth movement is not a wise thing to encourage in the new dispensation. He said it in light of the revelations at the Janneh Commission.
Meanwhile, the President’s youth group is drawing membership from the Coalition parties whilst the former ruling APRC of Yahya Jammeh is losing some of its members to the group.
