1. MAYOR’S CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN BANJUL. Samba Faal, acting mayor of Banjul will be appointed president of the World conference of mayors when over 300 mayors from around the world meet in Gambia next week. Speaking to the Gambia Daily after calling on President Jammeh, the chairman of the world conference of mayors, Johnny Ford said the conference has six goals: training, tourism, technology transfer, the twinning of cities, the building of mutual trust and raising income. 2. GAMBIA IS TO HOST THE 2003 ANOCA CONGRESS. The Gambia has been selected to host the 2003 general assembly meeting of the Association of the National Olympic Committees of Africa, ANOCA. This was announced at the 9th general assembly of ANOCA in Mombassa, Kenya. Present at the general assembly meeting was the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Mr. Juan Antonio Samaranch. The Gambia was singled out for a Gold medal by Mr. Fidro Kidance, the Director of international relations of the IOC international relations office. During the same meeting, Mr. Alhaji A. B. Dandeh Njie was elected treasurer General of ANOCA. 3. GAMBIA TO RECEIVE D700 m EU GRANT. George Marc Andre, European charge d’affaires in the Gambia has said that under the new partnership agreement with ACP countries, 51 million Euros (about 700 million Dalasis) is to come to the Gambia over the next 5 years as a grant. Mr. Andre made this disclosure after paying a courtesy call on President Jammeh at State House on Wednesday to present to him a copy of the new ACP-EU partnership agreement signed in Cotonou on the 23rd June 2000. In another development Mr. Sidi Sanneh, ADB executive Director whose service with the bank is soon coming to an end, also paid a courtesy call on the president. 4. GAMBIA AND FRANCE SIGN LAND AGREEMENT. Last week the Governments of the Gambia and France signed a land agreement aimed at establishing a French Embassy in the Gambia. Monsieur Jean De Gliniasty, French ambassador to The Gambia and Senegal signed on behalf of the French government whilst secretaries of state for justice, Joseph Joof and that of Local government and Lands, Momodou Nai Cessay signed on behalf of the Gambian Government. Talking to reporters later, the honorary Consul of France in The Gambia, Mr. Trapateau said that this would usher in many opportunities, such as direct flights between the two countries, French tourists, companies and investors. The proposed French Embassy is expected to be fully operational by 2002 and will be located in Cape Point road on a plot of land that formerly housed the French consulate in The Gambia before it was transferred to Dakar in 1953. 5. THE GAMBIA HIV/AIDS RAPID RESPONSE PROJECT (HARRP). The government of The Gambia in collaboration with the World Bank is launching a 15 million US dollar HIV/AIDS rapid response project aimed at slowing down the spread of HIV/AIDS through an urgent, comprehensive and multi-sectoral response to the prevention of HIV/AIDS transmission and a system of care and support with active community and private sector participation. This project will be directly under the office of the president. 6. SERRE KUNDA HOSPITAL PROJECT. The government of The Gambia, having received financing from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), is currently inviting bids for the construction of a major hospital in Serre Kunda. The hospital will be built in the buffer Zone between Kanifing layout and the Independent stadium. This will be an ideal location because of the vast area of available land and easy access to it. People living in the Kombo coast can drive directly to the hospital without going through Serre Kunda, thanks to extension of the Badala Park road that is being reconstructed and extended to Camalo via stink corner. Tenders for this project will be opened on Thursday 2nd August in the presence of bidders and work on it is expected to start soon after. 7. HASSAN JALLOW APPOINTED JUDGE IN THE HAGUE. The honourable Justice Alhaji Hassan Boubacar Jallow, a judge of the supreme court of The Gambia, has been elected by the general assembly of the United Nations as an ad litem judge of the international tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The elections, which took place on the 12th June 2001, resulted in the election of 27 judges to the tribunal. His election, which took effect from that date, is for four years. 8. Banking becoming easier. On the 15th instant, trust bank limited, one of the leading banks in the Gambia, launched the first Internet banking service in the Gambia called “Trust Bank Direct”. Trust Bank Direct, a computerised banking system is aimed at enabling customers to have easy access to the bank and also accessing their bank accounts without going to the bank. Speaking to reporters, Mr. Momodou Conteh a computer expert and senior manager at the Management Information System department of Trust bank limited explained that “Trust Bank Direct” would allow customers to have easy access to the bank through the Internet. He further explained that for the customer to have access to the bank, all they need is to have a PC with windows 95/98, a modem and a telephone. Mr. Conteh, who designed the software himself, also revealed that their bank would very soon implement Electronic Personal Banking (EPB), smart cards and ATMs. In another development, in collaboration with the General Post Office (GPO) recently launched its Western Union Money transfer service using the Post. Initially, this service will be available at three post offices namely Banjul, Serre Kunda and Soma (LRD). This, many people consider a very useful move. At least our poor folks up country need only travel to Soma rather than all the way to Banjul. The longer opening hours of the post offices is another bonus. Have a good day and bye 4Now, KB Jobe. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------