Banjul, 27th February 2025: The Honorable Minister of Lands, Regional Government and Religious Affairs Hamat NK Bah recently visited three line departments under the ministry to familiarise himself with the staff of the departments and to receive first-hand information on recent developments of the departments.
The minister visited the Department of Lands and Survey (DLS, and the Department of Physical Planning and Housing (DPPH) as two significant technical departments, as well as the Department of Community Development (DCD).
During their discussions at the various departments, the directors briefed the minister on their key achievements, projects, partners they work with, intervention areas and challenges they face as departments.
At the Department of Community Development, Director Fatou Gibba highlighted their ongoing projects and some of the already implemented ones, while asking for more support from the government.
“We ask for government’s support to better deliver our services to the expectations of the public and to continue impacting on the lives of Gambians,” Gibba stated.
Minister Bah commended the director and her staff on the valuable work they are doing emphasising that community development is not just a department but a pillar in national development, as it contributes to many development projects and significantly to poverty reduction. He also noted the importance of enhancing women’s earning capacity as the department often deals with women empowerment.
The Hon. Minister further highlighted the importance of collaboration and advised on finding ways to utilise the country’s meager resources in a sustainable manner. Referencing recent developments in the world, Hon. Bah said that it is important for institutions to consider championing their own funding for projects and not only depend on donors for the fact that the world is moving and changes in world politics will require countries to take a new dimension and lead their own national development by utilising what exists.
“We must understand that time has come for us to do it ourselves; the issue of international aid will cease immediately because we have seen the problems in the international financial support in the world. This should be a wake-up call for us to make sure that we try to generate our resources and ask for the expertise of partners to support us in managing the resources we have” Hon. Bah stated.
At DLS and the DPPH, they acknowledged the initiative taken by the Hon. Minister to meet them in their offices.
Director Alieu Badgie of DPPH and Deputy Director Dawda Darboe of DLS explained some of the challenges they faced, stating particularly mobility and equipment constraints.
The minister assured that the ministry is currently working on improving and easing the mobility of field workers and will as well make effort to equip these technical departments. He continued to emphasise capacity building for proper execution of his ministry’s mandates.
Hon. Minister Bah reiterated the importance of collaboration and the need to protect integrity in land management and administration.
As this was the first visit of the minister to these departments, he reassured of the continuity of this initiative.
By Amie Choi
