By Yero S. Bah
The Secretary General and leader of People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Mr. Mohamadou Musa Njie, popularly called Papa, has disclosed that his party would reintroduce the “Tesito” agricultural concept if they are back in government. This, he indicated, would be done through the creation of regional zoning structures countrywide, that would help develop agricultural projects and policies which would eventually develop the sector rapidly.
The politician made these remarks on Sunday, June 14, 2020 at his residence in Brufut heights. He said the “zoning concept” is to map out the agricultural potentials of every region in the Gambia, which will be used as a database to determine which crop does better in which region. “We will collect data in all the regions and evaluate their agricultural potentials,” said the PPP leader.
Njie recalled that during the Jawara era, Gambia was producing more cotton than now and the country was also exporting more groundnuts compared to now. The re-export trade was booming and the mode of transportation was more efficient and affordable for the average citizen, according to Papa. He added that during PPP government there was a seed improvement project implemented by NARI for farmers to produce quality produce. In addition, he claimed that the fundamental development institutions of the country were all crafted by the PPP government (of Sir Dawda K. Jawara). He enumerated national institutions such as Gamtel, Social Security and Housing Finance Cooperation (SSHFC), National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI), as well as other strategic units which formed the bedrock of the country’s development trajectory today.
SG Njie said a government under his leadership would reinforce these concepts but also introduce new and modern systems, and values into the Gambian society, like discipline in all sectors to foster national development. He cited “indiscipline and corruption” as the “roots of all the present national predicaments” that this country faces. He noted that every politician would want to apply technology in agriculture, but they will likely fail in answering the how question. “We believe in zoning for better development,” PPP’s current leader told this medium.
He believes every region has what he described as the “competitive advantages” from each of the seven administrative regions of the country, for instance he said, the competitive advantage of CRR is that it has enough water, fertile rice fields and a youthful population as well as livestock and rice production technology.
Njie indicated also that a PPP government will look at agricultural projects that will do well in every region and implement it whilst considering all the development elements. That, they will work with the Ministries of Education and Agriculture to develop well-planned development agendas or projects whilst creating new incentives for farmers, hatching new opportunities and decentralize development by regularly collecting and collating data on every sector, especially agriculture. Data is pivotal in national development, Njie intimated. He charged that the civil service should be there to create the perfect environment for the creation of opportunities for Gambians.
Hear the PPP chief: “We will train locals in every region for them to man their regional agricultural development projects, build storage systems, create markets for farmers and facilitate transportations.” He informed that a PPP government would try to limit the importation of rice by placing higher taxes on importation to encourage the local industry to grow, and award contracts to citizens.
Njie said the party has a holistic package for national development. He stressed the “Maslaha” syndrome must end in this country in order to reorient the citizenry and forge ahead on a better economic path, adding this has been a sickness in the Gambia. To reinforce his view point, he gave this example, “Your nephew can commit crime but you [will] ask for the negotiation instead of litigation.”
On the energy sector, he said nowadays development couldn’t go ahead without energy, pointing out that the problems with NAWEC now is that it’s struggling with old infrastructures.
Njie said it’s the duty of the government to invest in the national grid, disclosing PPP’s desire to introduce a “Build Operate and Transfer (BOT)” when it takes the seat of government again. Njie suggested that if government can’t invest in energy, then it should invite the private sector. However, the PPP Secretary General alleged that the problem with the private sector is that they often become “too greedy” by charging production cost to the final consumer-which is not sustainable.
