GTTI EXHIBITION: GAMBIAN STUDENTS SHOWCASE TALENTS

Whilst technical education is taking upward swing, burgeoning into a well-embraced venture, the young ones that have joined the enterprise have proven the necessity of the course. Few days ago when the students of Architect and Draughtsmanhsip of the Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI) held their 2nd annual Arts and Architectural Exhibition at the institute, The Gambia was made to see that Gambian students have talents. A drawing that depicts Aminata Hydara The head of Architectural Draughtsmanship Section, Mrs Aminata Hydara, said time was ripe for the draughtsmanship discipline to produce technicians for the country, save for the fact that discipline was lagging behind, compared to other areas of technical studies. With the realisation of the importance of architectural education on the “creative and aesthetic processes”, she pointed, “it was thought necessary that the architectural draughtsmanship programme be commenced in the institute”. The exhibition exposed talents and creativeness of Gambian students, who brought in spotlight drawings, designs and earth-constructions viewed by thousands of people. The course is broad, but more significantly, it is an avenue for self-employment among the teeming youthful population of the country, Mrs Hydara said. “While also developing students’ creative abilities and understanding, the primary emphasis of this course is building technology and the communication of the design and production [of] information. “This course prepares the student to operate as an independent practitioner as well as to work as a member of a team. The graduate will be qualified to work within organisations on both the design and sides of the industry. “To prepare the student for a particular vocational role and at the same time lay the foundation for cultivating the abilities for a higher level of studies. The necessity of being properly informed the power of rational thought and creative imagination and the importance of understanding the broader context with regard to society and the environment will all be incorporated. By being stimulating and challenging, the course will offer the student the opportunity to develop both personally and professionally,” she opined. Architectural Draughtsmanship is growing into being one of the most marketable disciplines, because many have cherished the embodiment attached to it: a well-regarded course with a potential of self-employed venture. In an inspiring speech, Kris Powers (Amie Ceesay) a third-year Peace Corpse Volunteer who lectures in the school, told students to bear stoical and work hard, knowing that the longest day will come to an end. She advised the students, saying: “The world has many lessons to teach you. I consider the world, this Earth, to be like a school and our lives the classrooms. And sometimes lessons on this Earth come dressed up as detours or roadblocks, and sometimes as full-blown crises. “It’s being able to walk through life eager and open to self-improvement and that which is going to best help you evolve, because that’s why we’re here, to evolve as human beings, to grow into being more of ourselves, always moving to the next level of understanding, the next level of compassion and growth.” Amie Ceesay, Aminata Hydara and Minister Jammeh on the high table In what appeared to be one of her last public speeches before ending her voluntary service, Amie Ceesay said: “I chose to join the U.S. Peace Corps to serve my country. What I’ve learned from working here with all of you, is not only am I serving my country, I’m also serving yours as well. All of you have taught me many things about life, things that you can’t learn from a book and I hope that you have also learned a few things from me. The Gambia has become my second home.” Youth and Sports Minister Alieu Jammeh was among the dignitaries that graced the annual occasion.

FATE OF SUN BEACH HOTEL IN LIMBO

While the management of Sun Beach Hotel and its staff have failed to break barriers over demand for forced-vacation and salary payment, the hotel manager has said he would “close the hotel”, a source closer to MarketPlace has revealed. According to our source, the manager said he would close the hotel and if the matter is taken to court, it would prove futile. The source also said that majority of the staff have spent almost 10 years working in the said hotel but are still paid a paltry D930. “We used to call our salary ‘half past nine’ because we are paid only D930 a month,” the source explained.

Sun Beach Hotel What used to be an environment conducive for Chefs, barkeepers and cooks in a hotel with one of the best beaches of all the resorts coupled with a picturesque curve of fine white sand with thatched umbrella shades, is on the verge of closing. Our source said the junior staff have resolved that “no staff will go on unpaid leave”, but must be paid their entitlements if the hotel is to be closed. “It is just like history is repeating itself. Last year, some staff went for leave without being paid and when they resumed, their services with the hotel were terminated,” the source noted. The Management has told more than one hundred staff of the hotel to “go” on vacation for almost half year without their pockets being filled with rewards for their labour. Now the hotel management is in bad times, as reports have it that the hotel “cannot operate”, and management is considering “closing the hotel”, which used to have one of the best tourist accommodations in The Gambia, blending in with its surroundings, brightly and colourfully decorated.

A panorama view from the hotel Whilst the Management is considering a redundancy and ultimately closing the hotel, the fates of some of the staff are hanging on the balance as on Monday 21 May 2012 a meeting was convened with heads of departments, which resulted in the heads of departments informing the junior staff that Modibo Taal – the manager -- made a decision that staff should proceed on vacation for five months without salary until October 15, 2012 – this is the last straw that broke the camel’s back. It would be recalled that an online newspaper reported a letter supposedly written to President Jammeh by the staff of the hotel, alleging poor working conditions. Daily Observer was quoted as reporting: “A crisis broke out Thursday (exact date not confirmed) between the management and the junior staff of Sun Beach Hotel and Resort at Cape Point in Bakau, after the manager of the hotel, Modibo Taal, told 104 staff to go on vacation for five months without salary.” “The generator is faulty and the swimming pool sometimes has problems. The pool does not contain chlorine, that is why tourists are running away from the hotel,” Dembo Camara, the barkeeper, who has worked with the hotel for the past ten years, was quoted by the Daily Observer as saying. The Sun Beach Hotel started in 1971 under the name of Sunwing which was one of the Swedish Vingresor's portfolios. This changed in 1999 when Airtours, having acquired Vingresor, had it re-named. It was designed by Peter Gibbons and renovated in 1989. Sun Beach, located in the Cape Point, has some facilities such as a mini-market, craft market, a few small restaurants, exchange bureaus and a tourist market, within walking distance. Whilst the Atlantic Ocean and beaches have become major impetus for hotels in the country, Sun Beach Hotel has enjoyed lots of opportunities over the years, as it is situated in a hoteliers' ideal location, facing the Atlantic Ocean's beach and the river-mouth. Meanwhile, efforts to reach the manager were unsuccessful. However, when approached, the internal manager, Hamat Bah, said the issue “is an internal matter”, according to Daily Observer. Mr Tall has however denied the allegation of mistreating workers, describing it as untrue, false and misleading. “I spend my money and time just to keep them [the workers] at least for the season but what they are saying is totally wrong,” he said. “I work twice with the hotel but the shareholders are not contributing and I alone cannot operate the hotel,” he explained further, adding that he had even written to the shareholders about the situation of the hotel but there was no response. The only alternative is to close during off-season, which is something, he added, is un-peculiar to Sun Beach Hotel alone. He explains further: “What I said was since the hotel is not having customers, the staff should go for a voluntary leave. Some accepted and others did not. I personally reported the matter to the Labour Department to look into the matter to make sure that the staff rights are secured and protected.”

REPORT HOLDS AFRICAN GOV’TS RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTINENT’S MISFORTUNES

Chronic food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa stemmed from decades of poor governance. Regimes bent on amassing wealth absorbed the region’s resources into patrimonial power structures. Self-serving elite, quick to amass wealth from graft and patronage, have stood between leaders and the people, monopolized state revenues and emptied the countryside, but they have provided neither employment nor industry. These are among the highlights of the latest UNDP-Africa Development report. The report was made available on May 15 after its embargo elapsed. Africans are not fated to starve - provided that governments move decisively to put in place appropriate policies and support mechanisms. Famine, starvation and food insecurity are preventable. The shameful scenes of feeding tents and starving children that have been associated with sub-Saharan Africa for far too long can be eliminated once and for all, Tegegnework Gettu, UNDP Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director, Bureau for Africa, was quoted in the report as saying. The report, which is the work of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), argues that sub-Saharan Africa can extricate itself from pervasive food insecurity by acting on four critical drivers of change: greater agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers; more effective nutrition policies, especially for children; greater community and household resilience to cope with shocks; and wider popular participation and empowerment, especially of women and the rural poor.

Tegegnework Gettu Gettu said: “A well-nourished and empowered population, in turn, is more likely to seek education, participate in society and expand its productive and human potential. With the right policies and institutions Africa can sustain this virtuous cycle of higher human development and enhanced food security.” The report highlights African governments’ lacunae, whilst laying emphasis on daily violation of people’s dignity, “with many governments not fulfilling their basic responsibilities of protecting their citizens from hunger”. The chain of food security that runs from availability through access to use comes under constant stress in a region vulnerable to the impacts of erratic weather, volatile food prices, and conflict and violence. Agricultural productivity remains low— much lower than in other regions. Many sub-Saharan African countries are net food importers and even depend on food aid during all-too-frequent humanitarian crises, the Report explains. The report, entitled ‘Toward a food secure’, observes that misguided policies, weak institutions and failing markets are the deeper causes of sub-Saharan Africa’s food insecurity. “For decades the policies of national governments and international institutions neglected sub-Saharan Africa’s rural and agricultural development in favour of urban populations,” the report states. “Their damaging legacies include ineffective postcolonial industrialization plans that exhausted development resources, leaving agriculture behind. Structural adjustment programmes aimed to close budget gaps but instead created large human development deficits, especially among the vulnerable poor and skewed allocations of national revenue and foreign aid that overlooked agriculture and nutrition.” Despite some improvements since the mid-1990s, the report holds governments responsible for sub-Saharan Africa’s smallholder farmers’ giving up the struggle to compete against the world’s most formidable agricultural systems, citing heavy subsidies and other factors as bottlenecks. “African governments continue to [put] burden on domestic agriculture with high, arbitrary taxes while bestowing subsidies, incentives and macroeconomic support on other sectors. Meanwhile, many developed countries have moved the other way, heavily subsidizing agriculture long after its role as a development driver has passed, giving their farmers a tremendous advantage in international trade. Sub-Saharan Africa’s smallholder farmers, sidelined by biased policies and squeezed by failing markets, long ago gave up struggling to compete against the world’s most formidable agricultural systems.” How Food Insecurity Persists amid Abundant Resources? The report argues that despite sub-Saharan Africa’s rich land and water resources, yet hunger and starvation are widespread. “This contradiction stems less from the continental availability of food and more from glaringly uneven local production and access and chronically deficient nutrition, especially among the poorest.” Food systems in a region vulnerable to the effects of erratic weather, volatile food prices, and conflict and violence, are some of the dynamics undermining the three interrelated components of food security: availability, access, and use.

Measured by agricultural production, food availability has gradually improved, but agricultural productivity remains low – much lower than in other regions. Most sub-Saharan African countries are net food importers, and many depend on food aid during all too frequent humanitarian crises. Even where food is available, millions cannot afford it or cannot acquire it because of underdeveloped markets and weak physical infrastructure. “But food security goes beyond availability and access. Proper use of food determines whether food security sustains human development. Insufficient access to safe water, energy and sanitation conspires with diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria to perpetuate food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa.”