Dec 22, 2022, 12:26 PM | Article By: Adama Jallow

The minister for Fisheries, Musa Drammeh, has stated that ECOWAS would in 2023 give the Gambia government about D51 million for the procurement of fishing equipment and the creation of artificial fishing in The Gambia.

The fund will as well cover the capacity building of those to be involved in the artificial fishing project to enable them do the work effectively.

His announcement came prior to a request made by the youth of Kombo South urging government to invest in youth empowerment through job creation, particularly in the fishing area, as the youth are set to take the lead role in the fishing industry.

The tour, under the theme: ‘Together we can accelerate socio-economic growth and maintain peace and stability’, was conducted to dialogue with the people across all the regions. It would give government direct information of some of the challenges encountered by the communities for possible intervention.

Minister Drammeh made these remarks recently at a joint meeting by Kombo East, Brikama North and South Constituencies held at the Brikama community.

In addition, he said that after receiving the fund from ECOWAS next year, the establishment of the artificial fishing ponds will be located in Kombo South, Bakau, Banjul and other parts of the rural communities.

It would be recalled that since the beginning of this year’s tour, many areas of interests and concerns have been raised by communities across the regions. The concerns include the need for the provision of enough water with electricity supply, good roads and boosting the productivity of agriculture to fight the high dependency on rice importation to the country.

It is believed that the establishment of artificial fishing in the country would be a great achievement by the Gambia government, both in the provision of fish and in job creation.