By Abdoulie John
Following his first 100 days in office, the Mayor of Kanifing Municipality, Talib Ahmed Bensouda, has Monday laid out major projects for the country’s biggest conurbation. He outlined series of measures geared towards turning KMC into a modern city with adequate municipal service delivery.
Mayor Bensouda made the announcement during a news conference held at his office, located along Mamady Manjang Highway.
The first citizen of the KMC revealed that he has taken the initiative to restructure the finances in order to attain greater efficiency.
Spearheaded by the Finances Committee, Bensouda said the move has helped to maximise their revenue base during the last 100 days, raising KMC bank balances from 8 milliion to 16 million dalasis.
“This represents a very meager resource base, but we believe it is a step in the right direction,” he emphasized.
He then added that an extraordinary audit by the National Audit Office is ongoing, covering the years 2016-2017.
Bensouda further stated that they are planning to come up with a new financial manual.
Weighing on one the most important issues, he acknowledged the fact there are numerous illegal dumpsites across the municipality, a situation that prompted Mayor Bensouda to give directives for the garbage to be constantly collected by his team on the ground. He urged KMC residents to commit themselves to always keeping the city clean.
Bensouda made it clear his Municipality will be implementing a series of measures geared towards eliminating illegal dumpsites.
On the issue of Bakoteh dumpsite, he clearly stated that it continues to cause serious environmental and health damages in the area.
“Due to serious resources constraints, a permanent solution is not yet available,” he warned, adding that the KMC has hired a contractor to deal with the situation.
Similarly, he said he is going to engage Brikama Area Council and Banjul City Council to work on the eventual closure of the dumpsite.
Mayor Bensouda expressed hope that a final solution to Bakoteh dump will be found in few years.
In an effort to keep the city clean, Bensouda noted that the drainage system within Kanifing Municipality has undergone maintenance over these past months as part of flood risk management.
He also unveiled major infrastructural projects including the construction of roads and markets across the municipality.
Putting security at the center of development process, Bensouda said the Council has 45 municipal police officers, and announced the recruitment of 60 more security personnel in a near future.
“It is the Council’s intention to build a professional police force that are service-oriented,” he said.
Those that would be recruited are expected to play a key role in community policing.
Mayor Bensouda further stated that pllans are also in high gear to set up a permanent municipal court that would handle municipal matters.
Ends