Aja Dr Isatou Njie Saidy, vice president and secretary of state for women’s affairs, last Friday, received in her office a former Nigerian High Commissioner to The Gambia, Mrs Mariam Mohammed.
 
Mariam Mohammed told reporters, shortly after her audience with the vice president, that she was in the country to take part in the just concluded international conference on Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Africa, organized by the Commonwealth Association of Polytechnics in Africa.
She said she and The Gambian vice president reminisced on the situation during her term as Nigeria’s chief diplomatic representative to The Gambia. Their discussion, Mrs Muhammed said, centred on global situation like the global financial crisis, touching on what the continent of Africa needs to do to cushion itself from the possible fallout of the eminent complications of the global crisis.

Since after returning home, at the end of her duty in The Gambia, Mrs Muhammed has been based in her home state of Kaduna, Northern Nigeria, and has been working with the Kaduna Polytechnic. She said that she was happy that she was back in The Gambia, expressing hope of visiting the country in the nearest possible future.

Meanwhile, the Gambian vice president, on the same day, presided over a presentation ceremony that saw the handing over of an amount of D300,000 to regional governors and municipal heads, monies meant for disaster stricken victims across the country. The distribution of these funds, according to officials, is in two folds: the annual provision by the government of The Gambia, and a donation from UNDP, the government’s partner in disaster management effort.
 
Addressing the gathering, DR Njie Saidy harped on the significance of preventive issues. She reminded the gathering of the fact that the committee had been constituted thanks to a directive by the president, President Ahaji Yahya Jammeh, hailing the fact that it has evolved into such a well-structured institution.

Dr Njie Saidy indicated that what was more critical was not the ‘little amount of money’ that was being given out but the result they get from the management strategies they employ. She also revealed that structures have been put in place already at the governors’ level, hoping for that to be implemented at the community level.

Essa Khan, project coordinator, national disaster relief committee, hailed the government of The Gambia, under the dynamic leadership of His Excellency, Professor Alhaji Yahya Jammeh, for its consistent and timely response to disaster management issues.

He said that government’s attitude towards the issue does not only demonstrate its quality leadership, but it also shows its commitment to taking ownership of the general effort in solving the problem. He cited several challenges that continue to hinder progress in solving the issue of disaster, calling stakeholders to consider developing capacities at community level.

Momodou Kotu Cham, the SoS for Forestry and the Environment, hailed the assistance, but said that the best thing to do would be to address the issue of disaster on a long term basis. Prevention of disaster occurrence, he said, is better than having to react to damages. He described some situations around disaster prone areas as incidence waiting to be happening. This, he believes, is should not be tolerated.

For SoS Ismaila Sambou, the heads of the regions and municipalities, along side the physical planning authorities, have a big role to play in stemming the occurrence of many disaster incidences. He called for a strict application of the rules and regulations, stating that ‘the days of saying thank you to government or some other donor organization should be gone for us.”

 Sensitisation and proper allocation of plots of lands would help a great deal, according to the SoS, in preventing some of these disasters, describing them as man-made disasters. Governor Momodou Soma Jobe, who gave the vote of thanks on behalf of his colleagues, thanked government for the gesture. He assured of a prudent distribution of the funds.

He observed that although the amount of money presented might be small, it would help lessen the psychological trauma the victims undergo. Priority, he assured, will be given to the less privileged in distributing the money. Jobe however appealed to the UNDP for help in setting up the structures at the grass root level, in terms of training and the like.