The city of Bellac in France has been twinned with the village of Sifoe in The Gambia since February 19th, 2007.

This illustration of North-South Co-operation was consecrated, on the same day, by the signing of a Twinning Charter between the two entities, duly represented by Jacques Michel Faure, Lord Mayor of Bellac Gartempe, and Alhaji Malanding Demba, Alkalo of Sifoe.

Speaking to the Daily Observer on this issue , Momodou Tangara, a Gambian student pursuing a doctorate degree at Limoges University (France) said, ‘‘this culminated from a long time project that started in 2002, meant to build bridges between peoples of the said localities.’’

Acknowledging the prominent role played by Dr Serge Thévenot, one of the project initiators and former President of the Lions Club of Bellac, pointed out the objectives of such a twinning, as it is set to embrace areas like health, social welfare, environment, education, youth, sports, agriculture, trade, tourism and culture. He also dwelled on the importance of putting up a twinning committee in each community, with a mandate to further strengthen the ties between Bellac and Sifoe and their respective inhabitants.

Momodou Tangara said he will spare no efforts to assure the sustainability of the project, adding that peoples are extremely motivated to explore new areas of co-operation, with the support of The Gambia government. He concluded: ‘‘Echange Gambie Limousin Santé-Education (EGALISE), an association created in 2005 and that engineered the whole project, still has the task to perpetuate the co-operation.’’