By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
The national treasurer of the opposition Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), Lamin KB Bojang, has called on the government of The Gambia through the Ministry of Local Government and Lands to demarcate the Brikama Area Council into two councils, noting that West Coast Region is too wide to be effectively governed by a single area council.
The erstwhile GDC candidate for the Brikama North Constituency in April Parliamentary elections argued that the current Brikama Area Council is inefficient because of the vast areas it covers.
“Brikama Area Council covers a vast area and so they cannot serve us effectively. It is high time the government looked into creating a new municipality that will be called Brikama Municipality and creating another area council that will be called Sibanor Area Council. West Coast Region is the biggest region and the most densely populated in the country. Demarcating the region into two will help in managing the revenue generated by the councils”, he pointed out.
According to Bojang, the Brikama Municipality should comprise Kombo East, Kombo South, Kombo Central and Kombo North. The other council, which he suggested to be Sibanor or Bwiam Area Council, said that council territory can start from Mandinaba in Kombo East to Kalagi in Foni.
He submitted that the Minister of Local Government and Lands should propose a cabinet paper and submit it to Parliament for approval. He said if that is approved, the West Coast will generate huge revenue and will help find solutions to the current issues affecting the West Coast Region dwellers.
While suggesting the demarcation of the Area Council into two, Bojang claimed that the current Brikama Area Council is not serving the people of West Coast, accusing them of neglecting Brikama.
“It is disheartening that Brikama Area Council has neglected even Brikama town for far too long. Looking at our streets, we suffer a lot, especially in the rainy season. It’s sad that year in and year out, we will be affected by severe floods. It is like we don’t even have a council in the first place”, he claimed.
The Brikama Area Council is the local government council responsible for tax collection in the West Coast Region. The region is vast and has an area of about 1764.3 km2
