Barely three months after their appointment to steer the affairs of the capital city, the Interim Management Committee of Banjul City Council has left evident traces of remarkable achievements, the Daily Observer can reveal. Notably among these are the increase in daily revenue from D7,000 (or D8,000) to D25,000 (or D30,000).

Elaborating on these successes in an interview with the Daily Observer, Alhaji Alieu Mboge, outgoing chairman of the Interim Management Committee of BCC, said his committee collected D195,000 in a day during the Tobaski Wanterr and in December 2007, they fetched a record revenue of more than a million Dalasis.

Mr Mboge disclosed that they successfully cleared all the overdraft debts incurred by the council at the banks in the country. “We now have a cash reserve of over D2 million and a working capital of over D1 million,” he said.

Projects

On projects his committee embarked on, the redoubtable Alieu Mboge disclosed that the committee successfully revamped the abattoir at the Albert Market and also rehabilitated the feeder-road that runs from Campama Estate through the heart of the Banjul to Wilberforce Street.

He added that most of the streetlights have also been replaced with a better streetlight system.

“With the help of prominent Gambian business personalities, we were able to rehabilitate the Mayor’s Office and the conference hall of the council, which were in a poor condition,’’ he noted, adding that the monthly Set-setal was intensified and changed to a daily routine activity.

Constraints

However, Alhaji Alieu Mboge highlighted the constraints that the management committee faced in the execution of its duties, pointing to the rate collection and trade license payments as among the major ones.

He bemoaned the debts owed to the council by yard owners and some government departments, accummulating to a sum of D22 million. He appealed to the defaulters to step forward and offset their arrears in order to enable the council implement its projects for the city.

“Cognisant of the fact that the city needs a healthy enviroment, we lack adequate vehicles for garbage collection,” he said, adding that another major problem is the activity by some “uncrupulous members of staff” who conspire with outsiders to make receipt books for the illegal collection of daily revenue on behalf of the council.

“Ten of our staff members who were involved in it were terminated,’’ he told the Daily Observer. He then advised other sister-councils to be mindful of such “unpatriotic” individuals whose ultimate aim is to undermine the development aspirations of the government.

Recommendations

The outgoing BCC interim committee chairman then pointed out the recommendations tailored out by his committee, including the rehabilitation of the pumping station along Borne Road. He stressed that the structure is in the process of dilapidation. However, he hinted the Daily Observer that studies are currently underway to repair it.

“We recommend that an organised waste collection system be put in place to ensure sustainability,’’ he said. He added that his team also recommended for the staff of the council to be registered with the Social Security and Housing Finance Cooperation.

Alhaji Alieu Mboge capped his comments on with an expression of profound gratitude to President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh for the trust and confidence bestowed on them.

He also hailed the efforts of prominent Gambian business personalities, as well as a team of investigators at the Albert Market, whose contributions cannot be over emphasised”.