Thank you Malik and Katim for sharing your views about the 2002 budget. When
I realised that despite all that is contained in the budget speech nobody
seemed to want to discuss it I perhaps copying it in parts from the
statehouse website and putting it on the L piecemeal will generate some
interest. Unfortunately it did not attract the debate I expected. That is
why after posting the bulk of it I decided to stop putting them on the L. In
my opinion, a National budget is a very important document that needs to be
thoroughly debated for all to have an idea of where we are heading. This is
particularly so because of the calibre of people we usually elect to our
national assemblies and who are supposed to debate the merit or lack of it
when presented to them by our SOS. Unfortunately most of us whine and whinge
about the calibre of people we elect to our National Assembly while we, the
so-called intellectuals, hardly risk standing for elections. Since these are
our individual choices, and we are entitled to make those choices, the least
we can do on the L is to debate it as if we were the elected NAMs. This
could perhaps provide other insights to our budgetary process that may guide
those who prepare them in the future.

Having said, I would like to comment on some aspects of the budget. On the
whole I am more optimistic than both of you. On the whole, I was
particularly pleased to know that while the average GDP growth in
Sub-Saharan Africa is about 3.5 % that of The Gambia is about 4.8 %. This
means that at least there has been some steady growth albeit less than 1 %
above our population growth. Other areas of interest also were the
statistics concerning the access to school, health and clean drinking water.
The provision of housing for very low-income civil servants such as drivers,
messengers and teachers was also something that I liked. The high rent in
the Greater Banjul Area (GBA) coupled with the expensive fears means that
this category of civil servants can barely have surplus money to maintain
their children in school and are most likely to marry off their daughters at
an early age.

Investment in fish processing and preservation needs to be commended.
Unfortunately not many Gambians, with the means to make the necessary
investment in medium to large-scale fishing or marketing of fish products,
are not doing so. Most Gambian business would rather invest their money on
import and retail of finished products from abroad. We also make very nice
salted peanuts and peanut butter but nobody is packaging them to enable
their export to other countries. Instead we import salted peanuts and peanut
butter. An Indian company has started producing peanut, which is in high
demand in England, but other than them nobody is in that area of business on
a big scale. I fully remember the large number of people employed at Denton
Bridge producing groundnut oil as well as groundnut shell boards. These
light industries have since died. I hope government imposes huge taxes on
imported peanut butter and salted peanuts in particular. There is no need
for us to import Gerteh saaf (Mariba) and Deggeh (Tia Deggor).

The construction of road networks and bridges linking the producer areas to
the consumer areas is also a step in the right direction. Rural
telecommunications development is also proceeding at a very fast pace and
can be a major catalyst for investment in the rural areas.

Another area of interest is the reclaiming of agricultural land, the
construction of dykes and waterways for our rice farmers as well as the
construction watering holes in areas where there aren’t many swamps to
provide water for livestock. I can remember the many confrontations that
used to take place in the Kuntaur area between cattle herders, whose cattle
sometimes stray into rice fields, and rice farmers. There have also been
some scale projects in Niamina and Niani for the preservation of dairy
products and the production of yoghurt. I am trying to get information about
what impact the micro-finance institutions operating in the provinces have
on the lives of the ordinary people who are supposed to benefit from them.
Millions of small loans have be disbursed to women farmers and communities
but I have no idea whether these loans are being repaid and whether the
coverage area has increased significantly since its launch a few years ago.

The rural electrification project, which I applaud for many reasons, will
however only benefit us if Gambians are prepared to invest in small-scale
industries that can provide employment for the beneficiaries. At the moment,
most of our tailors, welders, barbers, etc. are mostly foreigners. I hope
when the project is completed, government will formulate policies that will
encourage investment in the provinces. The recent announcement of the
revamping of river transport and the Banjul shipyard are steps in the right
direction. I will stop here for now, lest it becomes too long.

Have a good day, Gassa.



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