During his weekend Meet the Peoples Tour to Brikama, President Barrow did not waste any time in criticizing the chairman of the Brikama Area Council and the state of the market, as well as the cleansing of the streets from illegal squatters.
President Barrow asserts that markets are owned by the government, not local councils. According to Barrow, local councils are left in charge of managing councils despite their decentralized structure. We assign councils the task of overseeing market operations. Then, before professing to support the Brikama women traders, President Barrow requested that the Brikama Area Council give cleaning the marketplaces and adjacent areas first priority.
“I recommend that the council first roll up their sleeves and clean the area.” It is the most straightforward responsibility for a council. Regardless of how ineffective a council is, they can achieve this. However, even the entrance to the council is filthy. You claim to help women, but you can’t even keep yourself clean. Look at the Brikama Market, where we built 88 stores and a multi-story structure—a first in Brikama history,” he said.
The Chairman of the Brikama Area Council announced two weeks ago that the council had passed a resolution to take legal action against the National Road Authority and the Gambia Police Force over the demolition of market canteens, which has left many women vendors without a place to sell their wares.
President Barrow used the Mandika parable to respond to the Brikama Area Council’s decision, saying, “No one gives birth to a child and harbors animosity towards it.” What I’m saying to Gambians is that we were lenient in the previous five years, but that time has passed. “It is critical to follow the law; failure to do so will result in consequences,” stressed the president.
He expressed his understanding of their predicament to the women at the Brikama gathering. But thanks to funding from the World Bank, Brikama would get a new hospital, and the one next to the market would be turned into a market with greater room for women.
Additionally, President Barrow reminded them that the market area was intended to be re-organized after the stone he placed for the construction of a contemporary market with roughly 1200 booths.
Prior to the council’s decision to sue the National Road Authority and Police over the demolition of shops in the town, The Gambia’s Minister of Tourism and Culture, Hamat NK Bah, called Brikama “filthy” and urged the women of Brikama to ask the Yankuba Darboe-led Brikama Area Council to clean the town first. market.
