Madam Speaker

It is with great honour and immense pleasure that I stand here this evening to address this august gathering on the occasion of the state opening of the National Assembly for the first Legislative Session of 2008.

I want to give thanks first and foremost to the Almighty for the great bounties of peace, security and stability He has showered upon our dear nation and for giving us the strength, the resources and the will to continue our noble and challenging task of national development.

Madam Speaker, let me also take this opportunity to commend you and the members of this Honourable Assembly for the successful Legislative Year of 2007. In your debates, where bills and motions were passed, loan agreements ratified and the works of the various select committees, this August Assembly has helped to strengthen Gambian democracy, promote good governance and pave the way for growth and development of our people as envisaged in Vision 2020. I am confident that 2008 will be one of the most remarkable years of our democracy, as we all work together to realise the core aspirations of our people to attain a better life for all and sundry.

Madam Speaker, a lot of milestones have already been achieved, however, a lot more work still needs to be done if we are to achieve our dreams and aspirations of moving this country to higher heights. I will highlight some of the key development challenges we have been facing, and some of the success areas as well as our plan for 2008.

Finance and Economic Affairs

Madam Speaker,

The macro economic environment continues to improve significantly as a result of policies implemented by my Government. GDP growth of 6-7 percent was experienced in 2007; inflation has reduced to single-digit level of 5.1 percent (end January 2008), the exchange rate of the dalasi has stabilized and international reserves have been built to a comfortable level of 4.5 months of import cover. Nonetheless, the country still faces many development challenges.

My Government’s economic policy for now and for the future will continue to be shaped by efforts geared towards substantially reducing poverty and attaining the MDGs.

On the issue of debt, my Government will continue to promote a strategy of careful management of the country’s external debt to finance PRSP II priorities, without compromising debt sustainability. A key challenge is to maintain a sustainable external and domestic debt position through careful borrowing and prudent fiscal policy.

The financial sector continues to be deepened and vibrant as new banks and foreign exchange bureaux were licensed to operate. This is expected to increase competition leading to introduction of diverse banking products and nationwide branch expansion. The ultimate objective of my Government is to make The Gambia a world class financial centre and Allah willing, this would e realized sooner rather than later.

Personnel Management Office

As the lead institution responsible for human resource management, the Personnel Management Office continues to play a crucial role in he public service sector reform.

The PMO in collaboration with the UNDP prepared a strategic sector paper within the framework of the PRSP II covering 2007 - 2011.

Among the key issues proposed is the establishment of the public sector Capacity Building Board to coordinate and direct the civil service reform programme; the review of salaries and allowances of civil servants; the full computerisation of Government Payroll and other critical data like leave, disciplinary and other components of Human Resources Information system.

The training of the critical mass for Public Service would be given the highest priority especially as my Administration plans to fill 50% of the key Civil Service positions with young blood fresh from universities. This will augur well with our stated objectives of achieving our Vision 2020 objectives.

Higher Education

Madam Speaker, Honourable Members,

To guide policy development and supervision of the Higher Education Sector, the Department of State for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology was created in January 2007.

A major pre-occupation of the Department now is the development of a policy framework for the sub-sectors of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology. The integration of tertiary education to render it more cost effective and sustainable is ongoing.

In line with my Government’s desire to promote science-based education and training of young Gambians, new scholarship programmes have been negotiated with friendly countries such as Venezuela, Cuba, Taiwan, Malaysia and others in fields like medicine, computer science, engineering, petroleum geology etc.

In the same vein, an Academy of Science and Technology is being built in Kanilai and enrollment of students is expected in September this year. Our objective is to have our first batch of Home-trained Scientists in seven years time, and build up a core of Scientists from there on. This would of course be complemented by Scientists that are currently undergoing training overseas.

Basic and Secondary Education

Madam Speaker,

My Government will continue to give priority to Early Childhood Development (ECD), given the role it plays, in ensuring readiness for formal schooling.

To enhance literacy and numeracy amongst the population, through Adult and Non-formal Education, a public/private partnership approach has been developed to empower NGOs and CBOs to deliver quality literacy programmes. Under this strategy, along with other interventions, it is expected that illiteracy rate will be halved by 2015.

I wish to seize this opportunity to stress on the need for discipline in our schools and training institutions, because discipline is the foundation for good citizenship, for patriotic citizenship.

Henceforth, there will be zero tolerance for any act of indiscipline in our schools. School principals have the task of enduring that discipline is maintained to the letter in schools under their control. Just as academic records of pupils are kept so should the disciplinary record of every student be kept in the schools. From now on government scholarships for local and overseas training will be given out based now only on the academic record of an individual, but also on his or her disciplinary record. This is because a nation with a few highly disciplined academics has a brighter future than one with thousands of highly disciplined academics. Therefore, henceforth, discipline would be the determining factor for sponsorship.

Health and Social Welfare

Madam Speaker and Honourable Members,

The provision of essential, quality health care is a pre-requisite for overall social progress.

Health system strengthening will be extensively pursued, in 2008. This will be achieved through aggressive training of doctors and nurses as well as community doctors to stem the brain drain in the sector and to ensure that healthcare is delivered to the doorsteps of our communities.

The strategic targets in the Health master plan for 2008 include reducing infant mortality from 86 per 1000 to 79 per 1000 2008; maternal mortality reduced from 730 per 100,000 to 2.6 per 100,000 in 2008. This ultimate objective of my administration in the long term, is to achieve all the MDGs on health as well as reach standards higher than most Western Countries. We shall achieve this Allah Willing.

Agriculture

The new orientation of the Department of State for Agriculture is one of administrative rationalization and modernization, aimed at self-sufficiency in food and export, in line with Vision 2020.

From now on, agriculture will no longer be a seasonal activity based on the short seasonal rains, but one that will be an all-year activity and taking full advantage of the new technologies available.

My Government will exploit the potentials provided by the river and underground water resources as well as water harvesting to ensure that irrigation agriculture become a way of life. Agro-processing will receive the priority it deserves. There is no reason for The Gambia to import large quantities of cereals, vegetables or livestock products when we can produce these locally for the domestic and export markets in the sub-region and beyond. Under my leadership, as the Secretary of State for Agriculture, agriculture will be given a new lease of life.

I would therefore like to take this opportunity to call on patriotic youths of this country to take up farming and work together with my Government to achieve food security and self sufficiency. In the same vein, I call on all Gambians to eat wha we produce locally. It is important that we change our diets for us to be a healthy nation.

Petroleum Exploration, Development & Production

In 2009, drilling of the first exploration well in the off-shre Blocks A1 and A4 licensed to a Canadian company would commence. My Government is also in serious negotiations with other prospective companies for exploration and development activities of the remaining Blocks in the Off-Shore, Ultra-Deep Near-Shore, and the Onshore Areas.

Another important development is the drafting of a Downstream petroleum Sector legislation expected to e brought before this Assembly in 2008 as an instrument to regulate the conduct of downstream petroleum activities covering the crucial aspects of storage, marketing, and transportation of petroleum products and services.

Electricity, Energy, and water Utilities

As part of efforts to provide expanded coverage of electricity and reliable and affordable energy services throughout the country, my Government has initiated relevant interventions aimed at addressing the constraints affecting electricity transmission and distribution on our networks, and the expansion of generation capacity.

During the course of this year, an additional 6.5MW Machine in Kotu, a 10MW generating set for the Brikama Power Plant, and two other machines with a combined generation capacity of 13MW are expected to be commissioned.

These could greatly enhance electricity supplies in the Greater Banjul Area and Western Region. In addition to these, necessary resources are also being mobilised to implement the next phase of the Rural Electrification Programme, as well as important energy projects using renewable sources such as Solar, Wind and Waves technologies.

These technologies will allow us in the-not-too-distant-future to light up every village and hamlet in The Gambia in line with my Vision of transforming The Gambia into a City State.

Trade, Industry, Employment

Honourable, Members,

In my Government’s drive to boost trade, a Trade Policy is being formulated and will be completed before the end of 2008. The policy will reinforce the Competition Act which has already been enacted by this Assembly in 2007. The Competition Commission which will operationalize the Act would be in place by mid July 2008. The implementation of the Act will encourage good trade practices as well as protect consumers from exploitation by unscrupulous businesses.

As a means to promote youth employment, my Government has created a youth enterprise scheme known as the Green Industries Ltd within the July 22nd Business park at Yundum.

This will not only provide skills training in textile manufacturing and related skills but will in addition be run and managed on purely business and commercial basis. This initiative would soon be launched. I would again appeal to the young men and women of this country to take advantage of such facilities when operationalised to improve household incomes and eradicate poverty.

Tourism & Culture

Madam Speaker,

Tourism continues to be a major economic activity in the country given its significant contribution to the GDP, employment creation and generation of foreign exchange.

In 2008, many new hotels shall be opened to increase our bed capacity to meet the growing demand for quality visitor accommodation.

In the area of arts and culture, the National Centre for Arts and Culture has been restructured to render it more proactive and responsive to our social needs. The NCAC Amendment Bill will be placed before this august Assembly for enactment during the cause of this legislative year.

Fisheries & Water Resources

Madam Speaker,

The provision of potable water supply and the sustainable management and exploitation of fisheries resources is a priority of my Government.

The Government of The Gambia with the support from development partners like Japan, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, the European Union, the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, BADEA, OMVG and others is implementing a number of projects in rural water supply and in fisheries development in many parts of the country which together will significantly increase the access to water for human and livestock use as well as enhance fish landings for consumption locally and for export.

But we cannot achieve this no matter what infrastructure we put in place with Gambian  youth not fully taking up fishing as an occupation and drastically reduce our heavy dependence on foreign fishermen.

Works, Construction and Infrastructure

My government is conscious of the importance of good infrastructure for the socio-economic development of The Gambia. This is why the provision of good road network, which facilitates an efficient movement of people and goods is the corner stone of the National Transport Policy of my Government.

Current developments include the upgrading of the Serekunda - Madinaba road which will be completed within a few months time; the reconstruction of the 114 kilometers Mandinaba-Soma road is targeted for completion in 2009. The rehabilitation of the Barra-Amadalai, Mandinaba-Seleti, TransGambia and Soma-Basse Wellingara roads projects of 274 kilometers, funded by the EU and ongoing. The construction of a bridge at Sankule Kunda is a matter priority this year.

Foreign Affairs

Our Foreign Policy continues to be guided by the cardinal principles of the maintenance of international peace and cooperation for development. At the bilateral cooperation level, we have, over the past twelve months, initiated and sustained efforts at strengthening bilateral ties with countries in the sub-region in particular and Africa in general. We have also reached out to friendly countries outside the continent of Africa. These efforts are geared towards facilitating trade and other exchanges which contribute to the creation peace and understanding as well as of wealth and prosperity amongst peoples.

We have endeavoured to advance foreign policy issues that seek to serve the national interest of The Gambia while placing emphasis on relations and coordination with the international community.

While we treasure relations with our traditional development partners, we will continue to work with them under the ambit of the various bilateral and multilateral partnerships we have with them. Efforts will be made to develop new links, further consolidate present ones and revive where necessary, ties that have become dormant over time due perhaps to misconceptions.

Communication and Information Technology

My Government is vigorously pushing forward the Silicon Valley initiative which seeks to transform The Gambia into the Silicon Valley of Africa. Appropriate land has been identified for the Technology Park. The efforts of my Government in collaboration with our development partners like Taiwan Egypt and others are poised towards the realization of this important objective.

The Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) continues to improve its coverage countrywide and has acquired and installed the latest generation state - of - the art digital TV and Radio equipment for the new GRTS studios.

Judiciary

My Government’s commitment to good governance, adherence to the rule of law and due process of law is amply manifested in our support to and stance on the Judiciary. We believe that an efficient and effective judicial system is a prerequisite for social cohesion and prosperity in this country. It would attract foreign investment, help in our fight against poverty and in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and vision 2020.

It is against this background that my Government has continued to support the Judiciary to fulfill its constitutional mandate.

Government will give meaning to the indigenization policy by presenting to this Honourable Assembly a Draft Judges’ Bill, pursuant to sector 142 (1) and 142 (2) of the constitution, that will prescribe the salary, allowances, retirement, pension and gratuity of Judges, establish judicial self-accounting, and presenting a Judicial Service Bill that will govern the administration of the judiciary and the mobilization, management and control of its resources.

My Government will also present for adoption and ratification by the Assembly, a Code of Conduct binding Judges and Judicial Officers. The draft code was proposed by members of the Judiciary themselves following a series of sector wide consultations.

Government will also ensure that the High Court rules which have been revised by the bench and bar are given the required legal effect and introduced. Rules for the Cadi Muslim Courts and the Cadi Appeal Panel will also be in place soon.

Defence

My government maintains its resolve and conviction that social and economic development must be pursued alongside the efforts of promoting peace and security and the rule of law.

In this regard, the capacities of the institutions charged with maintenance of peace and security, rule of law and order will continue to be developed and strengthened, and their competencies consolidated with a view to maintaining the Gambia’s envious position in the international community.

Interior

Our continued success in the fight against crime depends on cooperation among all of us law-abiding citizens, inspired by the principles of the rule of law, respect for our judiciary and pursuit of equal human rights, which our constitution enjoins us to observe in our daily lives and pronouncements.

The Gambia Police Force in its drive to expand and improve its human resource capacity has sponsored and facilitated the training of many officers, locally and internationally. Similar positive developments are unfolding in the other security services such as Immigration, The Gambia Fire and Ambulance Services and the National Drug Enforcement Agency.

Our security forces are actively participating in Peacekeeping Missions in Sudan, Liberia, East Timor, Congo, Sierra Leone, and Eritrea. As a peace loving nation, we are proud to be associated with the maintenance of peace and stability far and beyond our borders.

Local Government, Lands

To be considered during this legislative year will be a Bill to amend the State Lands Act. As a result of migration and urbanization, the demand for housing and land is significantly increasing in the Greater Banjul Area and its immediate surrounding. These amendments will therefore ensure a more efficient and judicious land administration mechanism.

Forestry and the Environment

My Government will continue to vigorously pursue its programme of sustainable natural resources and environment management as contained in the PRSP.

The implementation of Forestry Policy will begin in 2008 and the National Forest Act will be revised in 2008 with funding and support from FAO.

In 2008, efforts will be made to designate a number of areas around the country as protected areas such as Community Wildlife Reserves and National Parks.

Office of The Vice President and Women’s Affairs

A Women’s Bill has been drafted and would be submitted to this National Assembly for enactment. This Bill is meant to further consolidate the role and status of women in this country.

Youth and Sports

The National Youth conference and Festival (NAYCONF) is scheduled for December 2008 in Farafenni, North Bank Region.

The theme this year is: “Invest in Youth for Sustainable Development”.

The National Youth Service Scheme (NYSS) will have its training programme reviewed at a national consultative conference to be held this year with a view to better respond to the training and employment needs of Gambian youths.

In its drive to further empower the youths of the country, my government has recently approved the establishment of a National Youth Development fund. The fund will mobilize resources to support youth-led initiatives.

The youths of this country should take advantage of the initiatives as well as other business opportunities available in this peaceful country. Europe, America or Babylon is not the panacea for jobs or good living. All you aspire for in those countries, which are increasingly hostile to immigration, especially of Sub-Saharan Africans, can be achieved here at home provided you are prepared and determined to work hard. The success of foreigners who have wealth in this country should clearly teach our youths that success in life can indeed be achieved here.

In conclusion, I am pleased to say that we have indeed done much to implement the commitments we made to the people during the last State Opening of the National Assembly. However, and not unexpectedly, it is obvious that we still have outstanding work to do in this regard.

The Assembly would need to work closely together with Government to ensure that we achieve our remaining objectives as well as new aspirations we set our selves as a nation to achieve so that the lives of our people can change for the better, sooner rather than later. I am certain that Gambians are capable and ready to respond to the national challenges of the day, and seize the opportunities that our country’s progress over the last thirteen years has provided.

It is now my singular honour and pleasure to declare the 2008 Session of the National Assembly officially open.

Thank you all for your kind attention and May Allah the Almighty guide you in your deliberations and continue to bless us all. Amen...