Yankuba Darboe, chairperson of the Brikama Area Council, has stressed the lack of support from the central government under President Adama Barrow as his biggest disappointment so far in office.
“Instead of supporting us over the last three years,” he said on QTV’s State of Affairs programme, “it has been a battle for their support. It has been a battle against us rather than to support us. That is the biggest disappointment.”
Chairperson Darboe made this remark as a follow-up to emphasis made on his achievements, after being asked by host Alieu.
On the achievements, he said his single biggest is how his leadership was “able to fight corruption” and then get BAC on track, where “it is not completely dependent on loans and overdrafts” to maintain its sustenance. “Where it is now,” he added, “I would say, it is able to stand on its feet and to deliver some bits of services to the people of West Coast.”
Asked if he were to be rated by residents of West Coast in relation to his performance, what rating he believes he would get, he said: “Out of 10, maybe about six or seven, because I believe we still have much to do. There is a lot that we need to do, but we have done a lot. We have achieved a lot as well. We have been able to maximise the revenue of the council, and then we are able to register some developments in almost every ward of our region. That is a big achievement of its own.”
He said further: “We have been able to provide scholarships to so many students in the region. So those are things that we have achieved within the last three years. I think those are things that would resonate with the people, and I believe the people would appreciate it too. And if they are to grade us, they would give us much higher score than that. But I would say we still have a lot to achieve, especially in terms of waste collection. We still have much to do on that one. So I would still say maybe 6 or 7.
For the massive revenue boost from approximately D67 million to D240 million under his administration, he attributed such a big revenue mobilisation to hard work and dedication.
