By Lamin Njie
Honorable Abdoulie Jobe, the Minister of Tourism and Culture on Wednesday, 17th July 2024 appeared before lawmakers at the National Assembly in Banjul to respond to questions raised by the deputies concerning the celebrations of the Janjanbureh bicentenary, which was held last year in Janjanbureh.
In response to their concerns, the Minister informed the NAMs that his Ministry would submit a report to the National Assembly once the Local Organising Committee through the National Centre for Arts and Culture submits its final report to his Ministry.
He further informed the lawmakers that the National Centre for Arts and Culture has also sent out requests for donations of milling machines, and a bakery for the youth in the community and the requests are yet to materialise and that the people of Janjanbureh want some infrastructural developments and this could only be done once the necessary funds are available.
The Honorable Minister further informed the lawmakers that negotiations are ongoing to bring back the Scandinavian tourists to the Smiling Coast of West Africa- The Gambia.
“Appolo has agreed to commence operations in Banjul from November 2024 with a flight capacity of 160 passengers weekly from Denmark. As part of the GTBoard/Appolo agreement, Appolo is also expected to receive passengers from Sweden and Finland through Denmark to Destination Gambia,” said Minister Jobe.
About the Mungo Park memorial site in Sami Karantaba, this is what the Honorable Minister said: “According to the National Centre for Arts and Culture, sixty percent of the works have been completed. The structures for the kiosk museum and toilet block are ready; the kiosk museum has been roofed; block work for the entire fence is completed. What is left is the spreading of the chain link mesh. The contractor has drilled the borehole; and is laying the cable works of the kiosk museum and toilet block. All doors and trusses are available and ready for installation. The soak away too is sunk and a concrete slab is put on it. A signage explaining the significance of the site has been erected. The works were stalled due to the inability of the contractor to get payment for works already done as per the signed contract. According to NCAC, the contractor is owed D 2.389 million. NCAC has applied for the disbursement of the 2024 Development Budget to pay for the work already done,” he said.
Minister Jobe said he has requested NCAC to prepare and submit a situational report about the project from its inception to date, following receipt and review of which, he will visit the project site to have first-hand status of the project.
Responding to the issue of the disbursement of the World Bank grant for Small and Medium Enterprises in the tourism sector, the Minister stated that the matching grant manual, which outlines the selection procedures, eligibility requirements, and contractual relationship for tourism-related MSMEs among others, has been fully developed and given its No Objection by the World Bank.
On the issue of ‘All Inclusive’ the minister had this to say: “The Ministry is in consultation with international organisations, International Tour Operators (ITO), Local Tour Operators (LTO), The Gambia Hotel Association (GHA), Tourism and Travel Association of The Gambia (TTAG), Investors, Associations in the sector, to carry out research, assess and evaluate the pros and cons of All-Inclusive package. Once this exercise is completed, the Ministry will publish its position on the All-Inclusive package. There is no gainsaying that tourism as a global industry has been evolving in leaps and bounds due to changes in lifestyle and rapid technological trends. The need for tourism destinations to pay attention to these changing trends has become imperative. According to the Honorable Member, 95% of the stakeholders in the industry do not welcome All-Inclusive, however, statistical data have shown that 7 out of 10 travelers look for AI resorts when planning their vacations,” he said.
