Members of National Assembly of The Gambia have strongly criticized Local Government Authorities for what many consider as the authorities’ failure to deliver, stressing the need for their annulment.

Contributing to the motion on the adjournment debate last Thursday, Hon. Mama Kandeh, the member for Jimara constituency, asserted that the time has come for Area Councils to be dissolved, charging that they are meaningless and have outlived their usefulness in the country.

According to Hon. Kandeh, the information given by area councils is wrong and misleading. "We should put this into consideration and make sure that anybody who brings false information to us faces the consequences," he said, adding that the worst Area Council in the country is Basse Area Council.

"The Basse Area Council," he claimed, "started collecting taxes of 2007 since last September. They cannot even provide toilets for the Lumos. So what is the essence of having area councils at the end of the day?" he queried.

For his part, Hon. Sidia Jatta said that the National Assembly could not dissolve Area Councils but can make them work in the interest of The Gambian people.

Hon. Jatta however lamented that Area Councils authorities are in the habit of collecting taxes only to sit back in their offices without rendering any services, particularly to the rural poor. "The Department of Livestock can’t provide drinking points for cattle because we are not giving them any money for that purpose," Hon. Jatta added as an afterthought to buttress his point.

Also contributing to the debate, Hon. Momodou M. Jallow, member for Lower Fulladou, earlier on said that in order to do justice to the taxpayers, Area Councils need to redouble efforts in whatever they are doing. He spoke against the tendency of LGAs to fail to use tax monies on worthwhile projects meant to improve the lives of those he called poor taxpayers. "You cannot collect tax from very poor people with the expectation that, or with the constitutional requirement that you should in turn use those funds to the advantage of the poor people, only to fail to deliver," he said, noting that this is a serious concern that Gambians should look at so as to see that things are done in accordance with the expectations of the people paying the taxes.