So far, Ebou Jallow was the only one who gave detailed accounts of how Koro met his death. I wonder if Ebou still stands by what he had already revealed? Thanks for this reminder. Read on! ---------------- Seven Years After Koro, the Facts Still Remain Hidden The Independent (Banjul) COLUMN July 1, 2002 Posted to the web July 2, 2002 By D.A. Jawo Banjul It is exactly seven years today since Ousman Koro Ceesay, the then Finance Minister of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) junta was found dead in mysterious circumstances in the charred remains of his official car near Jambur village in Kombo South. While there was a promise by the authorities to investigate the circumstances of his death, still we do not seem to be anywhere nearer a solution to the mystery; and no one seems to be talking about it in official circles. At the time of Koro's death, there were quite a lot of rumours and speculation as to what might have been responsible. Therefore, particularly in view of the prominent position he occupied in the regime and the very fact that he met his death shortly after seeing off President Jammeh at the Airport, everyone expected the government to mount on inquiry into the circumstances of his death. Some people even called for the involvement of other more experienced investigating agencies such as Scotland Yard of the United Kingdom and the FBI of the United States of America, but the junta would not have any of that. Even the inquest that was promised during his funeral never materialized, or at least it was never made public. What was even more intriguing was the failure by the authorities to make the autopsy report available to his family. According to his father, the family has still not been officially told what their son died of. The only other time that the government made any public response to critics of their handling of the Koro case was when the then Minister of the Interior, Lamin Kaba Bajo said they were unable to make any headway on the inquiry because they have not had cooperation from the public. Of course that explanation was just too incredible to be believed by anyone. Seven years, no one still knows what the whole truth is. Was the junta really genuine in getting to the bottom of the matter but they lacked the means and the cooperation of the public, or was there anything they wanted to hide from the public? While we may never know the answers to the above questions, but Koro's death in mysterious circumstances and the apparent lukewarm response by the junta to public calls for an inquiry seems to have left an indelible mark on the sincerity of the authorities to get to the bottom of the matter. Road construction - a nightmare to commuter It is quite a nightmare for commuter living between the Westfield Junction and Tabokoto to move about. This is because the main road linking those areas has been dug up in certain strategic location and as a result, vehicles have to divert through narrow and sometimes very rugged streets. This is indeed causing quite a lot of havoc to everyone, including motorists, commuter and even those residing in the areas of the diversions. This is no doubt responsible for the numerous quarrels and even conflicts between motorists and residents. Who should we blame for this untenable situation; is it the government or the contractors building the Westfield-Mandiba Road? Indeed both of them are blameworthy. It is the duty of the government, through the Department of State for Works and Construction and the Department of Technical Services to have never allowed such a situation to arise in the first place. In the case of the contractors, it is hard to understand why they should have waited until when the rains approach before they would dig up such heavily built-up areas without putting up suitable diversions. This is apparent disregard for the welfare and comfort of the people living or traveling through that area. It is indeed quite hard to understand what type of a strategy the contractors in the construction of the road are employing. There is certainly no systematic approach to the problem. Rather than begin from one end of the road to another, they seem to be working in patches, which seems to compound the problems facing motorists and commuter alike, particularly with the on set of the rains. While the contractors have their own interests to pursue, it should have been the responsibility of the Department of Technical Services to see to it that the interest of the people was always protected. It certainly does not make sense to allow the contractors to dig up the road at certain strategic locations in the heavily built-up areas without any suitable diversions, particularly when the rains are approaching. The contractors could have concentrated on the other less-populated areas until after the rains in order to avoid the present chaotic situation. There is no doubt that we all need good roads, but certainly not at such great inconvenience to everyone. Therefore, on behalf of the suffering masses, we are calling on the Secretary of State for Works and Construction and the Department of Technical Services to plead with the contractors to restore those dug up areas and open up the barriers to traffic until after the rains. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~