Latirr, thanks for your post.  I believe tolerance is definitely a wise
virtue to have.  As you posited, without tolerance it is hard to get
divergent viewpoints.  In the same vein, we need not show too much tolerance
to supporters of a government which has failed the Gambian populace in almost
every single facet.

Now to Daddy Nying:

I would first like to welcome you to the Gambia-L.  Given the general
sentiment towards the APRC regime on this forum, it takes a lot of guts to
actually post divergent views here.  For this, I commend you.

I beg to differ with your contention with Ebrima Ceesay's point about the
poor humanitarian state in the provinces.  To disprove his point, you
inundate us with a bunch of data about loans, upcoming projects etc etc.  You
fail to actually address his source's eyewitness account about the poor state
of affairs outside the Kombos.

Your post addresses improvements in governance from a very narrow point of
view.  How can one conclusively say that governance has improved because of a
recently started Radio One FM broadcast show?  Does this new purported
"freedom of speech" excuse the constant harassment of the Gambian press by
this regime over the past 6 years?  Does it excuse the fact that the same
Radio One FM was burned down by pro-APRC thugs?  Does it excuse the fact that
many reporters were dragged out of bed in the middle of the night without the
slightest regard for their families over the past 6 years?  I could go on and
on, but freedom of speech is one thing and governance is a completely
different issue.  The regime has not been particularly fair to the press over
the six years and for this reason, major steps need to be taken to correct
this situation.  As for governance, I dare anyone to state here how this
regime has shown good governance.

On education, your post talks about 257 new schools being built across the
country.  What is the point of building new schools when there are no
qualified teachers to fill the classrooms?  This is a good example of
misplaced priorities and thus bad governance.  Even the push to encourage
girls education is not the government's brainchild, but a worldwide one.
Similar ventures are probably being carried out in many other African
countries.

On the extension course with the Canadian University, again this was not a
brainchild of the APRC regime but one which was started by a gentleman from
Canada who wanted better for our country.  He was deported back to Canada by
the APRC regime in return for his services to our country thus putting the
program in danger. Is this good governance?

On health, again as in the case of white elephant projects like building 257
new schools with no teachers to fill the classrooms, what is the point of
building huge hospitals which people cannot access, and with barely any
doctors to run these hospitals?  If I recall correctly, the government filled
these hospitals with less qualified doctors from Cuba.  These doctors were
reportedly so bad that people used to less than adequate health care still
complained about them.  Furthermore, people are still dying because they
cannot get to the main hospitals.  Talk about a waste of money!

Instead of wasting money building massive hospitals with probably very little
modern equipment, why doesn't the government find ways of bringing the
healthcare which people need to the villages and towns outside the Kombos?  I
am sure they have heard of traveling doctors and such.  Nevertheless, the
poor state of health has as much to do with the dire economic/poverty
situation in the country as it has to do with the poor undermanned and
under-equipped white elephants you guys like to call hospitals.


The section which deals with the fight against poverty is again really
wanting.  How really does the government plan to fight against poverty?  I
really don't believe distributing 36 tractors which the farmers have to hire
will help alleviate poverty significantly.  This is probably another overhead
which the already cash strapped farmers would rather not deal with.
Furthermore, we know these tractors are usually gifts from foreign sources.
So, to act as if the government is actually providing these tractors is a
slap in the face to all Gambians.  As for all these projections, I say the
proof is in the pudding.  After all, weren't there predictions of a bumper
harvest last year too?  Also, with the farmers preferring to sell their
produce to Senegal, the government will probably be left in the lurch again.

In regard to the fisheries plants and such, why waste money on industries
which will most likely produce inferior goods which will not be bought by
anyone in their right frame of mind?  How many jobs will this massive waste
of money called a fisheries plant produce?  In my estimation, there are other
and better ways to alleviate poverty in The Gambia.  This massive problem
will not be solved by only building wells, and fisheries plants.  The Gambian
people need better than a handful of ventures.

Your point about new roads being built is also one of those tokens that the
government uses to try to fool the people. Another rainy season will probably
ruin that much vaunted highway.

Disclaimer:
This is not meant to disrespect your views but some of us want better for our
country and some of these old hair-brained ideas are really an insult to
Gambians worldwide.

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