Musa Jeng: This topic is a timely and an important one as well. Thanks for the memories. Regards Abdoulaye Musa Jeng wrote: > > Government plays a major and vital role in the developmental process of > a country’s economy, and also participates fully in reinforcing peace, > justice and the rights of its citizenry. Not too long ago, I wrote a > piece about how impressed we were in Atlanta when we received business > presentation from one Mustapha Njie----Taf. Mr. Njie left Atlanta a > buzz, not necessarily the attractiveness of his business proposals, but > rather gave us a glimpse to the new breed of Gambian entrepreneurs, > smart, very intelligent, global in thinking and have the potential to > play a crucial role in the future economy of our country. > > Clearly, Gambia economic future is in the hands of the Sankung Sillah’s, > Amadou Samba’s, and Taf Njie’s and to many other Gambian businessmen. > The successes of these businesses will have a direct impact to the > economy and lives of our people. And this reminds me of Kaur Dandimayo > in the seventies. Most of us kids in the Primary school learned our > numbers by counting the groundnut trucks waiting to disembark at the > GPMB factory plant, and in the middle of the trade season these trucks > had to wait for days. Kaur was a booming town, not because of government > businesses or programs but because of the Yusupha Najibs, Brian Najibs, > the Fawse’s and the Mass Mbye’s. These were businessmen driven by their > own business interests. They build businesses, created employment, > brought in goods and services and all other economic linkages that made > our Town to be the economic attraction of the region, attracting people > from Senegal, Guinea to Mauritania. These businessmen brought to Kaur, a > town in the middle of nowhere, closer to the twentieth century, whether > it was having a movie theatre, variety of shops, accessed to good and > services, medicine and even electricity. Yes, they brought in their > generators and electrification of their shops and houses, and as kids we > were at least contented with having electricity in the business center, > which became the attraction to our nightly programs, which also included > schoolwork. This down town area became the business center and > contributed immensely to the socio-economic development of our little > town. > > The above excerpt clearly indicates how important it is to have > successful businessmen, and the kind of role they can play in our search > for economic development. It is not to down play the role of government, > but to illuminate how important it is for government to assist, > participate and create the ideal environment for more businesses to > flourish. And that involvement should not be intrusive to the part of > interference or taking sides but rather in a regulatory capacity. > > And this brings me to the issue at hand, the Taf construction > situation. The Gambia government should always uphold the law, > intervene to protect rights of individuals, and should never get involve > in targeting and excluding certain businesses as a method of political > expediency. It is not only unwise but also counter productive to > President Jammeh’s original litany to the commitment of helping > indigenous Gambian businesses. – > The Jammeh’s government cannot allow itself to be seen in deciding which > businesses to lend a hand, or even participate in the competitions of > the different businesses. The successes of all businesses can only help > the country in creating employment, infrastructure development and > investments in other areas of the economy. Take for instance the Hajj > industry, which I have been personally involved in, instead of > government taking a regulatory role and allow the different agencies to > compete, the Jammeh government exploits it and play politics with people > who have work hard to build their own businesses. He has been accused of > taking sides and directly getting involved and sacrificing the successes > of some businesses at the expense of others. Instead of creating > regulations to protect the rights of its citizens, allowing and > enforcing the law of the land, the Jammeh government is in the business > of promoting and taking sides with a particular agency or businessman at > the expense of everyone else. > Finally, I am not fully acquainted with the details with the Taf > construction situation, but seeing the business plan, and the impact > such a project will have in the Gambia, these are the kind of projects > that most serious governments will encourage. In the final analysis, > successful Gambian owned business can be the beginning to economic > prosperity, whether is in terms creating employment, infrstructural > development, access to goods and services, and in the final analysis > create the nexus to peace and prosperity. I am appealing to Mr. Jammeh > to revisit the situation with a mindset of upholding the law, an > important issue to our developmental process, but also the economic > dynamics to our economic development. If a law was broken that led to > the firing of Mr.Bajo, instead of holding him responsible for his > actions, he was only removed from his post. Sir, it will not be > illogical to have doubts to your commitment to upholding the law. You > are absolutely engaged in sending mix messages that ran counter to the > very allegation you leveled against President Jawara in the hay days of > the coup. I will admit that I have absolutely no detailed information of > the issue, no relationship with Mr. Njie, but I have seen his plans, > business proposal and fully convinced that this is the kind of > developmental projects that is good for Gambia. Taf’s situation should > be judged, bearing in mine did he break the law and how will such a > project impact the development activities of the country. Gambia > definitely needs more of Taf construction, and not less of them. Backing > one businessman or businesses at the expense of other entrepreneur is > not the role of a government of all the people. Neither is it smart to > help foreign business at the expense of our own entrepreneurs because > our economic survival is with them.(Gambian Businesspersons) > “It is the economy stupid”(Campaign slogan of the Clinton’s) > > Musa Jeng > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L > Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] > if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------