Dr Aja Isatou Njie Saidy, Vice President and Secretary of State for Women’s Affairs, on Monday, December 11 presented the National Planning Commission Bill 2006 to the National Assembly Members.

The bill seeks to establish a Central Planning Commission to be supported by a secretariat of highly professional staff which will serve as an apex planning body, to be responsible for overall national development planning. The commission hopes to bring about rationalised planning and fill in the existing gaps in national development.

In presenting the bill, Veep Njie- Saidy, said the commission will among other things formulate and co-ordinate national development plans, strategies and policies in consultation with regional and sectoral planning authorities to make sure that the strategies influence the plans of implementing agencies. She said that the commission will also oversee the full implementation and monitoring of all such plans with a view to ensuring the achievement of sustainable socio-economic growth and poverty reduction, as well as the development objectives of the country in the MDGs-based plans, PRSP and vision 2020.

“The commission, will among other things, ensure that the policies, programmes and projects resulting from national, regional and sectoral development plans are effectively implemented. It will make recommendations on the financial allocations for the programmes and projects in the national, regional and sectoral development plans”, she said.

She added that the commission will make proposals for ensuring equitable and even development of the various regions of The Gambia. Periodically, she went on, the commission will also review the national development agenda to reflect the changing domestic, international economic, social, political and environmental conditions and make recommendations for revision of existing policies and programmes where and when necessary.
“It will also monitor and evaluate the implementation of development policies, programmes and projects to participate in resource mobilisation and donor consultation meetings forum which will serve as a coordination mechanism of different levels of planning”, she said.

Veep Njie-Saidy said that the abolishing of the former Ministry of Economic Planning and Industrial Development in the late 1980s, led to the assignment of Economic Planning and Industrial Affairs to the then Ministry of Finance and Trade.

According to her, over the years the government has realised the vacuum in national corporate planning, particularly in the wake of Vision 2020 and other national development strategies and programmes, such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) and the medium term plan and similar crosscutting developmental matters.

Saidou Dem, Member for Jarra East, described the setting up of the comission as the right way in achieving the development objectives of the country as planning is essential to development.

Halifa Sallah, Minority leader and Member for Serrekunda Central, described the bill as timely and laudable.