‘People Pay To Cross At Both Farafenni And Samba Juma Bridge’ Kemo Bojang Responds To President Barrow
By Buba Gagigo
Kemo Bojang, Youth Councilor at the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) responding to claims made by President Adama Barrow during an interview with Star TV, regarding fees levied for garbage collection in KMC, said the Gambia Government is also charging people to transit on both the Senegambia Bridge in Farafenni and the Samba Juma Bridge in Upper River Region, notwithstanding the fact that those structures are also owned by the taxpayers.
“He said if it was an NPP mayor, people will not pay to have their trash collected even if it will take his government to subvent the council. I will ask him to give a subvention to KMC then because he has never given us a subvention because of the fight they have subjected us to. And the law says 25 percent of our development budget should come from the central government and that has not been happening regularly.
“Did the president forget that people pay for crossing at Samba Juma and Senegambia Bridges? He also forgot that it was during his time that the ferry fees were increased. All these things I mentioned are not free, or is it that people are not paying their taxes? Wasn’t it taxpayer’s money they used to build these structures? He also forgets that at the airport people are paying 20 dollars or, D1000, to a foreign company for departing and arriving passengers” he said.
Kemo went on to say that they are glad that the president is talking about Kanifing Municipal Council’s Mbalit project, saying it validates the success and popularity of the project;
“We are happy that he (President Barrow) always talks about our Mbalit project. That goes to show that the project is successful because if you didn’t work, people will not talk about you. If what you are doing is not impactful, people will not be talking about it. His fascination with the project has shown that people are benefiting from our project. I will just remind the president that even in London, where he lived for a while, people pay for garbage collection. They pay council tax, and their garbage collection is added to that tax. Because the system we have here is not conducive to postpay, we have prepaid service, not postpaid (every month). So, when the president states that he has not seen it anywhere (people paying to have their garbage collected), maybe he is forgetful as he always does,” Kemo said.
Mr. Bojang also advises the president to be mindful of his words, saying president Adama Barrow is the president of the entire country.
“Mr. President, please be mindful of your utterances. You’re a president, and a president should not just get up and make statements that can easily be debunked. Although we are not in the same political party, we have given you the maximum respect, but you should also be mindful of what you say about people and things because you are the president and there for all of us.
“If you (the President) are preoccupied with fighting KMC, trying to create unnecessary distractions for us, it will not work. It shows Gambians that the upcoming elections are not about Talib Bensouda and the NPP candidate but Talib Bensouda, and president Adama Barrow because it is evident that since your meet the people’s tour, you have taken every opportunity you get to attack KMC and Talib Bensouda,” Kemo Bojang stated.
In an interview with Star TV last Friday, President Adama Barrow criticized the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) for charging the residents a fee to collect their garbage and says his National People’s Party (NPP) mayors and chairmen will not charge for the collection of garbage, saying he has never seen it anywhere.