By Omar Bah
The people of Upper Niumi have joined Kiang West to call on President Adama Barrow to bring development to their area or else they will turn their backs on his government and the United Democratic Party.
“The people of Upper Niumi are disappointed that our district which houses the famous Kunta Kinta relics, which market Gambia as a tourist destination is still neglected in terms of infrastructure and other facilities. We want to tell President Barrow to quickly fix our road if not we will stop supporting him and the UDP,” said Musa Saidy, a native of Aljamdou Village who walked into the offices of The Standard recently.
Saidy, who claimed to be speaking on behalf of a part of Niumi called Hakallan, also said that the road linking Buniadou to Albreda is an embarrassment to the whole nation since this is where tourists pass to visit Kunta Kinteh.
“Even for the sake of our tourism alone, this road should have been built long since,” Mr Saidy said.
He noted that the absence of a motorable road has hampered development plans of even philanthropists who wanted to provide the community with a standard hospital, cashew and juice factories .
He said Upper Niumi has been neglected by the past two regimes but the biggest insult was inflicted by Jammeh who stole the area’s only gold pot, the Kunta Kinteh heritage and transferred it to Foni in the form of the Roots Home Coming Festival.
Saidy, who is the director of Action for Youth Africa Charity and of several other UK youth charities in the Gambia, said the district voted for the Coalition with the hope that the status quo will change especially in the areas of tourism.
“Our main priority as we speak is electricity and motorable roads. We were surprised that the rural electrification project skipped the entire Upper Niumi,” he queried.
Mr Saidy said it is sad to imagine that a UNESCO recognised historical site like James Island is neglected by successive governments.
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