Barrow Glorifies Ten- Year Record Over 50 Years Of Jawara, Jammeh

With just a little over a month to go before the December 5 elections, President Adama Barrow is in no mood for complacency.

As he hit the road on his Meet The People Tour on Wednesday, he told a large audience in Brikama- Manduar that he has no fear of scrutiny when it comes to his achievements in office because the evidence is abundant.

“I accomplished more development in this country in ten years that the 50 years of the Jawara and Jammeh regimes,” he declared proudly.

 The president said these tangible developments can be found in infrastructure and public services. 

He cited improvements in electricity access, road construction, education and healthcare as evidence of his administration’s performance since taking office in 2017.

Comparing his record against those of his two predecessors, the president began by revealing that only 109 communities had access to electricity under the previous two regimes as opposed to almost nationwide access since he took over.

He said the North Bank Region was particularly too bad when it comes to electricity because only 40 communities had access in 50 years.

He also claimed that 355 communities in the Central River Region, 220 in the Upper River Region and 82 in the Lower River Region benefited from the electricity expansion project under his leadership, while in the West Coast Region, 101 communities are connected to the national grid.

Roads
According to the president, The Gambia had only 855 kilometres of roads before he assumed office, but now, about 1,500 kilometres of roads have been constructed during his tenure.

Similarly, the president went on, the two previous administrations built only 10,001 classrooms in over 50 years, compared to 7,155 classrooms his government built in 10 years, in addition to the establishment of 3 new universities that expanded access to higher education.

 He further claimed a significant reduction in unemployment and improvements in fertiliser and groundnut prices; cash transfers to vulnerable households and investments in healthcare, including ambulances, health posts and health centres.

“If those in charge before me did the work I did, The Gambia would not have been where it is,” Barrow said.

The president said with all these achievements the choice before Gambians in the December 5 election is a two-way path: ‘vote for me for a continuation of development, or enter into uncertainty.’

Source: The Standard