I must admit that even though I have read a lot of unadulterated rubbish on this forum before, the level of mediocrity, arrogance and down right narrow-mindedness that is being dished out here of late in the guise of “showing us” why we should unconditionally hate Jammeh and anything to with his government is just beyond me.

After wasting two posts on that numskull, Amadou Kabir Njie, with his two decades of carwash intellectualism and political maturity, I shall use my last post to respond to Saiks’s post.

Saiks wrote:

“Mr Kurubally,

Your point is well noted and since it is your right to have your opinion, I believe I should not be denied the same right. You claimed that the election results are enough for your support to the government and could not  understand why some of us could not do the same. My opinion is that since more that half of the electorate did not go to the poles is a sign of national crisis.”

Saiks, what evidence is there to show that more than half (more than 50 %) of The Gambian electorate DID NOT vote in the elections that legitimised Jammeh’s government?

“I am of the opinion that when Gambians go to the poles in most cases, it is not to speak their minds but to entertain. The day they decide to speak their minds through the ballet box, you and I will be a witness to another Senegal or Ghana, if that is not the case how can we say things were much more better in the Gambia than in Senegal, when Gambian farmers take the risk of smuggling their nuts to Senegal because they cannot sell it in the Gambia.”

Saiks, are you suggesting for one moment that you are more conscious or are more politically aware than the hundreds of thousands of adults Gambians who left all their chores, queued for hours to obtain National I.D. cards, again queued for hours to obtain voter cards, spend hours at rallies listening to the various politicians explain their manifestoes and programmes for the development of the country and finally queue for hours to cast their votes?

“If I am always been reminded that the government is building hospitals and that this is a sign of progress, when I know that there are hardly drugs or bandage in our hospital, then I do have the right to say that white elephant projects do only serve political slogans and not the health of the people or for the advancement of the country. We know it took a donation contribution to buy an incubator for the RVH, how much tax money is been used to build fortress Kaninlia? how many incubators, X-ray machines etc we would have been able to buy from the monthly expenses to protect and preserve fortress Kaninlia.”

Saiks, I don’t think you know what you are talking about now. What evidence do you have that our hospitals lack medicines or bandages? For your information, according to the SOS for health Dr. Yankuba Gassama, Gambia spent over D20 million for the purchase of drugs last year alone. Added to that, patriotic Gambians living abroad and friends of The Gambia donated us over D5 million worth of drugs and other equipment.

Secondly, what is wrong with Gambians donating or taking part in fund raising activities to secure much needed hospital equipment for use by Gambians?

“Do you mean to say that the article by the Independent forwarded by my self to GL on the health condition at Bakoteh is just for propaganda reason or been unpatriotic? Such health disaster is a daily pain for those leaving in that area and the country in general, long away from the peaceful and comfortable Europe and America You see,if the government is not capable of   building  a grounded primary health care service,it will never be able to provide enough and cheap medicines for her citizens,you dont need an expert in healthcare to tell you this.You cannot be polluting the environment of tax payers, or have clinics without running water or hot water,have a mental home with unbearable condition and thanks to the individual efforts of tax payers, dirty hospitals etc and demand that we should be patriotic enough by blinding our ourselves to such serious national issues,and yes God is great.”

Saiks, most of what you’ve stated above are again untrue. There is no hospital or clinic in the country that does not have a reserve water tank to cater for emergencies when our water supply is down. This in fact happens on extremely rare cases as in most cases, the hospitals and clinics are either connected to the priority transmission network or have their own boreholes. Again, I challenge you to name us one hospital or clinic that has no running water.

Secondly, the article you quoted highlighted the abysmal working conditions of some people who work at the Bakoteh waste dumpsite without proper protective shoes or gloves. It is also very un-sincere of you and an insult to all those associated with our medical/health facilities when you try to paint such an abysmal picture of our health facilities. The article I forwarded last week gave a very broad perception of how people appreciate our health delivery system particularly at the RVH hospital. I, myself, have told this forum that of my own volition I opted out of an insurance scheme that is run by my company because of my confidence in our public health facilities.

Finally, many have also read President Jammeh’s speech to our National Assembly Members in which he said “The infant mortality rate has been reduced from 85 per 1000 live births in 1993 to an estimated 61 per 1000 live births presently and the mortality rate of children under five from 137 per 1000 in 1993 to less than 80 per 1000. Malnutrition levels among children under five have dropped, exclusive breastfeeding is at 34% and life expectancy has also increased from 53 years in 1993 to 59 years now.”

“ Another article from the Independent posted was the plight of a young students who is having problems of providing for his education and warning us that without any help from individual tax payers he would most likely join the ranks of many of his fellows who are already half educated.”

Saiks, you cannot downplay the progress registered in the education sector either. We have all witnessed how the admission rate for school going children as well as the transition rate from Primary to secondary school more than doubled in seven years. We have also witnessed the fact not only are our children provided with furniture which they used to buy themselves pre-1994, most girls in the country now enjoy free education.

We are a poor country and such there is so much that the government can do. Exploiting the poverty of a poor schoolboy for political gains is abominable to say the least.

“How do we engaged in national development when I fear ;losing my job for speaking my mind,or just knowing that the NIA will soon be knocking on my door.

Any government,that takes it to bring fear in the minds of her citizens as a political weapon to have a total control over the situation is a government on the run and not learning from even modern history that the price to be paid for such a behaviour could be uncomfortable; that even intelligent people are no longer capable of critical thinking subjecting themselves  to mere political opportunism is much more disheartening to our nation than our critics of the government.”

This fallacy that has paraded here before and continues to be paraded before our very eyes is the main reason why I have been haunting some of those who consider themselves as genuine opposition members to shed light on the perpetual fear that many claim is the order of the day in The Gambia. I am again imploring those who have been to our country recently to please tell us whether Gambians are living in fear or not? Let them also tell us whether our media, both print and audio-visual, only disseminate what the state wants us to read or hear.

Sanusi Owens wrote:

“I hope Gassa can provide us information as why this site is properly controlled by the Government. From personal experience, I did visit Bakoteh only to realise the health hazard that this dump site might have for those living within that area. APRC through its municipal council -KMC have done little to avert the hazardous situation at Bakoteh.

I once again hope Gassa can tell us "something" different from what the Independent Newspaper has reported.

Just a thought, no hard feelings.”

Sanusi,

You can always rely on me to tell you my opinion regarding anything in the country. This is why I always make it very clear that whatever opinions I express here are mine and mine alone.

Now, coming back to your questions regarding the Bakoteh dumpsite, any right thinking Gambian knows that it had been there well before this government came to power. However, it is the responsibility of this government to do something about it. When the dumpsite started being used, there weren’t many dwellers living close to it and we were not generating this much rubbish.

However, I am confident that the municipal councils would seriously consider the Vice President’s call for them to look into a more innovative ways disposing the huge waste that is generated daily in the GBA. If my memory serves me right she told the municipal councils, when handing over six rubbish disposal trucks to them, that it was high time they looked into other ways of dealing with waste disposal rather than moving them from one place to the other. My interpretation of this is that she is telling them to look into the posibility of recycling our waste.

You also earlier asked my opinion about the reported impasse between the World Bank and The Gambia government concerning the termination of the services of the former boss of Gamworks. Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about that and as such cannot shed any light on it. When I do, I will share it with the list.

Finally, I would also like to remind me of your earlier promise to answer some of the questions I earlier asked pertaining to your recent visit to The Gambia, vis-a-vis the reality on the ground as opposed to the wild allegations on the L

 

To the list Managers:

Whereas I can take Amadou Kabir Njie’s personal insults with a pinch of salt, I strongly object to the inclusion my entire family in discussions that they have nothing to do with. He cannot be thinking of his entire family while assuming that he was talking of mine. I strongly believe that it would be a big pity if both of us were to be de-listed because of his infantile behavior.

 

Have a good day, Gassa.