Hi Ro,

Thanks for your efforts in dessiminating all the good news happening in our country for all to see. Some of these people cannot still come to terms with the fact that the first republic is truely dead. By the way, lest I forget, how's Madame and the babe? I hope all is well with them.

Going back to the good things happening here, which apparently DO NOT EXIST, the latest development, and this was only yesterday, is that the SOS for Works and Infrastructural development has just signed another road construction contract with CSE. This is the 3 Km stretch of road from Latri-Kunda German through Kotu to Manjai. This road would go a long way in reducing the congestion on some of our roads and also bring down the cost of 'town trips' from Kanifing, Kairaba Avenue and Latri Kunda areas to Manjai and Kotu considerably. And guess what, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I am sure by the time it finishes, in three months time, more of such projects would be announced. Take care bro. I need to hammer home to some of these disgruntled elements, who have petitioned, campaigned to the best of their abilities and yet have failed abysmally to have any impact on Gambians living here, aprticularly the electorate. If only they realised that the second republic is being consolidated by the minute!! Aye waye patche!!!

KB wrote:

"Gassama, calm down. You do NOT need to get all hysterical. I am used to your antics by now. When you are confronted with solid FACTS, you start whining about me being ‘undemocratic’ and bullying you. How can I be continents and oceans away and stop you from thinking and articulating your points on this medium?"

Hey, hey, Kebba, take a grip. Me hysterical or worry about you stopping me from thinking and articulating my points on this medium? You must be barking mad! For your information, I have never been more determined than now to think and articulate my points on this medium.

As to your delusion that Gambians in the Diaspora do not take "my garbage" seriously, all I can say is keep dreaming.

Now let's go back to the extract you quoted from SOS Jatta's budget speech about the performance of our tourist sector. Quoting from him, you wrote:

" You LIED about ‘giant strides’ in the Tourism Sector when in ACTUAL FACT the numbers were pointing DOWNWARDS – 50% reduction in 1994; 18% in 2000; a further 4% in 2001."

Guess what KB, the 18% reduction was as a direct result of the demise of FTI, the biggest tour operator in the country in 2000. Again, this mainly affected tourists from Holland and Germany and most of them came on "all exclusive packages". Since then, we have witnessed the return of Olympia who are bringing in tourists from those destinations. We have also witnessed the consolidation of our biggest source market, The Uk. In addition to Gambia Experience, both Panorama and Unijet have started bringing in tourists to our country. We have also witnessed charter flight arrivals increase from 10 arrivals a week to 13. This is set to increase to almost 20 this year. The number of available beds are also set to increase significantly as well as the quality of our products.

Have a continuous slumber KB.

Cherio, Gassa.