By Abdoulie Nyockeh
The Gambia Prison Services (GPS) recently benefited from the benevolence of the Jahanka Amsterdam Enterprise in the form of items.
The goodwill gesture include 129 chairs, 10 office tables, one (1) cupboard, three(3) television sets, 100 mattresses and 120 blankets, said to, all together, worth about D306,800.00. They are geared towards boosting service delivery and improving standard for inmates, at the GPS.
Speaking after the presentation, the Proprietor of the Enterprise, Mr. Malick Ceesay, said the objective is to help their brothers and sisters at the Prisons. He said the GPS is worthy of support in a bid to address the conditions of the prison.
Ceesay told the audience that the Jahanka Amsterdam Enterprise is a Gambian owned company and would continue to contribute its quota towards upgrading the prisons of the Department.
At the presentation ceremony held at the GPS complex in Banjul, the Spokesperson of Jahanka Amsterdam Enterprise, Mr. Musa Surr, expressed profound gratitude on behalf the Jahanka Amsterdam Enterprise for providing this donation to the inmates of the Prison.
He noted that everything started after a visit was made to the prison department by the proprietor of the Jahanka Amsterdam Enterprise, Mr. Malick Ceesay, who deemed it very necessary through his company to contribute its quota towards addressing challenges at the Prison Department. He said that prompted the proprietor to come up with this gesture to support the prison department.
According to the Spokesperson of Jahanka Amsterdam Enterprise, the objective of their company is to support the vulnerable or low earners in our society. He told the gathering that, every end of year, the company makes a sale year promotion from D100-to D50 reduction just to ensure that the low earners could purchase a product from them.
Speaking the Presentation, Superintendent Momodou Lamin Ceesay, PRO Gambia Prison Services, expressed appreciation over the donated items and thanked Jahanka Amsterdam for the noble gesture, which he said “is well appreciated by both officers and inmates”.
While assuring the donors that the noble gifts will be put into good use, Supt. Ceesay prayed for their fruitful relations to continue growing from strength to strength.
These items would go a long way in helping their reform process at the Department of Prison Services, as PRO indicated, adding it’s significant in the Department’s derive to making the Gambian prisons a better professional centre.
The Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Louis Moses Mendy, and Alieu Ceesay of Amsterdam, also spoke on the occasion and acknowledged the efforts of the Jahanka Amsterdam Enterprise.
Echoing that the GPS needed much attention and support to address the challenges faced by prisoners, the duo used the opportunity to commend the donors for the laudable intervention, while urging other Gambians to emulate the Jahanka Amsterdam Enterprise, for taking up this bold step.
The presentation was also attended by Service chiefs, Director General of GPS, Deputy Director General, among other staff of the Department of Prison Services.
