By Yunus S Saliu
The Gambia Press Union (GPU) has expressed dismay over the closure of the Daily Observer newspaper, the biggest and widely circulated newspaper in The Gambia.
The Observer Company, publisher of one of the most famous newspapers in the country on Wednesday, 23rd August, 2017 suffers another closure being the second time in less than sixty (60) days.
The company which has over one hundred staff was temporarily closed Wednesday, 24th June, 2017 by officials of the Gambia Revenue Authority as a result of an accumulated tax of D17, 473,584.47 (Seventeen million, four hundred and seventy three thousand, five hundred and eighty four dalasis and forty-seven bututs) but was later reopened by GRA on Wednesday, 28th June 2017.
But Monday, 31st July, 2017 GRA sued Observer Company to court and claimed the above sum for failure to pay its corporate income tax, sales tax, value added tax and payroll tax from January 2007 to December 2016 and judgment was entered in their favor. Observer was also awarded a cost of one hundred thousand dalasi on top of the over seventeen million tax claimed.
On a visit to the Gambia Press Union office located at Fajara, Emily Touray, President of the Union said the closure of the Observer Company is unfortunate and it is not serving anybody’s interest.
In solidarity with the workers of the Observer newspaper he said GPU will continue working with both GRA and the State in order to find a reasonable and final solution to the situation.
He said Daily Observer newspaper is the biggest newspaper in the country considering the fact that it provides jobs for over hundreds of people and also indirectly to some other individuals such as technicians, vendors, suppliers.
Sincerely, he said, the closure of the newspaper will undoubtedly harms the earning capacity of descent young men and women who are making a living not only for themselves but for their family members as well.
He stressed that these young men and women have chosen to stay and work in their country rather than joining the bandwagon of those people that travel through the ‘back-way’ to Europe and perished in the Mediterranean Sea in their quest for a better life and greener pastures, President Touray added that, these young people needed to be encouraged as they are willing and ready to continue contributing their quota to the socio economic development of this country in their own descent ways.
He again appeal to the concerned authority to have a second thought over this issue because the closure is not in anybody’s interest “there is need to work out progressive solution to this issue for the interest of the Gambia people, the GRA and State to realize our dreams and aspirations. He reiterated that the Gambia Press Union is really disturbed by this development.”
