By Mariama Jallow
The National Assembly Member (NAM) for Central Baddibou Constituency, Hon. Sulayman Saho, has said that it’s “disheartening” to see young people leave the coast of Barra and embarking on the perious ‘back way’ journey by sea to Europe, without the security personnel being in the loop.
Stating that a lot had been invested in the country’s security sector reforms, Saho therefore, held that it’s “disheartening to see that young people leave the coast of Barra going to Europe by Sea”, wherein a little over 60 Gambians youth drown, including girls.
“This tells us that we have security lapses in the country,” the teacher-turned parliamentarian argued during the National Assembly Adjournment debate in Banjul. He rhetorically quizzed, “Where were the Fire Services and the Police in Barra? To him, that’s question they need to ask themselves. “So, when we say security reforms, we don’t only mean taking guns and arms from security men, then, we say we are secure; or when there’s no demonstration and protest in the country we are secure,” he emphasized, adding these are fundamental issues they needed to look at.
Dilating on other issues affecting his constituency, Hon. Saho stressed the need to have proper structures at the Mandorry Lower Basic School, as he informed the Assembly that the current structure of the school is owned by a Madrasa, hence the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education should look into the issue.
He also pointed out that Dobo Lower Basic School, which is 9 kilometres away from Salikenne, needs to be upgraded to a Basic Cycle School in order to avoid children taking the risk of going up to Salikenne.
While noting that students of the University of The Gambia (UTG) are given scholarship by government, the lawmaker went further to argue that the scholarship package lacks the necessary educational tools like laptop, among others materials.
The government of the day, including the parliament, took actions to make sure that the National Human Rights Commission is launched in the country in ensuring that people’s rights are protected, Saho recalled.
At that juncture, the Central Baddibou NAM brought forth the rights of the mentally challenged people. He echoed to the legislative House:
“Mentally-ill people are human beings, thus they deserve the rights to be protected. There is only one psychiatric centre in the country, and there is no protection in the centre. “In fact, the centre should be decentralised to ensure easy access.”
He emphasized the point that mentally-ill people deserve to live a better life.
Hear the Honourable Member: “They don’t need to be treated like people who’re not socially important again.
“I believe if they are supported, they can recover because every one of us here is mentally affected, either ceremonially or {by} others issues.”
Shifting to other matters of importance, Saho submitted that climate change is real, and he decried that their little forest cover is being threatened by hackers or forest butchers in the name of so-called economic gains.
He called a halt to the practice, while challenging the Ministry of Forestry and Environment to come up with holistic approach in order to ensure that the destroyed forest cover are recovered.
A case in point he cited was the Dobo Forest in his constituency, lamenting that the trees therein had been all cut down and they are almost left with “mere bushes”.
“In fact, we don’t even have any forest cover in NBR,” the lawmaker bemoaned before the legislative house.
