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As requested by the Guinea Bissau Maritime Administration to draw a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Gambia Maritime Administration (GMA), the agreement seeks to tackle all forms of illegal means that exist within the two countries water.   In an interview with the two parties, the Director-General of GMA Bakary Janneh explained that the MOU will be drawn according to Bissau request and to Gambia’s interest in order to keep the existing bilateral agreement within the two countries. He added that Maritime safety and security will be in higher priority for the agreement. “Bissau and The The Gambia is very close and whatever activity that happens in Bissau is likely to happen in Gambia’s water. So it becomes our join responsibilities to work as a team and combat any forms of illegal means, either drug trafficking, illegal migration, illegal fishing in our waters, and anything that could hamper our community and development.” He further stated that drug is a natural phe...

Source: CNN  A new malaria mosquito is emerging in African cities, with potentially devastating consequences for those living there, according to a new study. The larvae of Anopheles stephensi -- India's main mosquito vector of malaria -- are now "abundantly present" in locations across Africa, researchers from The Netherlands' Radboud University Medical Center and Ethiopia's Armauer Hansen Research Institute said. Vectors are living organisms that can transmit infectious pathogens between humans, or from animals to people. This mosquito species only appeared in Africa a few years ago. Now, this invasive insect is "abundantly present" in water containers in cities in Ethiopia -- and highly susceptible to local strains of malaria, researchers have said. Most African mosquitoes that can transmit malaria are known to breed in rural areas. However, experts were  already concerned  this particular mosquito has found a foothold in urban areas, including cities...

  The South African military has amended its dress policy to allow Muslim women to wear headscarves as part of their uniform, an army spokesperson said on Thursday. In January last year, a military court dropped charges against an officer who had been indicted for wearing a hijab under her military beret. Major Fatima Isaacs had been criminally charged in June 2018 with willful defiance and failing to obey lawful instructions after her superior asked her to remove her headscarf when in uniform. A military court at the Castle of Good Hope near Cape Town withdrew all charges in January 2020, making an exception for Isaacs to wear a tight black wrap on her head on duty as long as it did not cover her ears. But the military did not amend its dress policy, prompting Isaacs to mount a challenge in South Africa’s equality court over regulations restricting religious wear. The South African Defence Force (SANDF) eventually agreed to amend its policy this week and allow all Muslim women to ...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board on Friday decided to allowed for an immediate disbursement of about US$28.8 million to The Gambia to help meet the country’s financing needs, support social spending and the post-pandemic recovery. In a statement send to this medium, the IMF indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to represent a significant challenge to country’s economy, adding growth is expected to rebound to 6.0% in 2021.  “Today, the Executive Board of the IMF completed the first review of The Gambia’s performance under a program supported by a 39-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement. The ECF, with a total access of SDR 35 million, (about US$47.1 million at the time of approval, or 56.3 percent of quota), was approved by the IMF Executive Board on March 23, 2020 ,” the statement confirmed.  IMF further stated that completion of the first review enables an immediate disbursement of SDR 20 million, about US$28.8 million; to help meet ...

In quest of promoting the critical infrastructural development in The Gambia’s institutions, Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) with the funding from the World Bank today concluded 10-day training on Cyber security technical awareness training. The training involved key stakeholders to form a well-trained team of collaborating experts across security, law enforcement, government, ISPs, Banks, academia and the ICT industry in the Gambia. In a ceremony held at the PURA head office in Kairaba Avenue, the director of consumer affairs Mr. Solo Sima delivered statement on behalf of his director general Momodou Jallow, saying he like engaging his staff and management towards the realization of the rolling out and implementing the national Computer Security and Incident Response Team (CSIRT). He added that it was deemed one of the urgent and critical needs of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) ecosystem, encompassing one of the key sectors that PURA regulates.  ...

By Director Cham In The Gambia, about 70% of the populace did not realized the efforts of filmmakers but still they are doing greater efforts to attract more supporters with the constraint to remove thousands of dalasis without gaining much in return. Now the Gambian filmmakers have to look at the perspective of filming and then link it with marketing. Many filmmakers had been speaking about marketing but the truth is, we all should develop the standard of our films before talking of marketing, remember poor quality film attracts no agents for the world market. Haven improved our standard of films, thereafter we can look at the main tips to easily market them. Always remember filmmakers can easily get caught up in the mysterious and seemingly dull business of marketing. Though it can be hard to envision using popular techniques for film promotion, I still urge the Gambian Filmmakers to do more search because it's a crucial step in business, especially the stage of films in Ga...

  By Pa Modou Cham President Adama Barrow has stated that as detailed out in the National Development Plan (NDP), his vision of the “new” Gambia is a country where the highest standards of good governance are upheld. Speaking at the laying of the foundation stone of   Basse market, president Barrow added that citizens have enjoy access to basic services and the enabling environment is created for the private sector to thrive. “It is vividly evident that my government has taken giant strides towards the achievement of these noble objectives, as witnessed by the construction of this important regional market. At present, we have a number of similar major infrastructure projects in Basse and other parts of Upper River Region (URR), including roads and bridges. Many projects will be brought to the communities of URR.” He further clarified that the Basse market project is fully funded by The Gambia government to an estimated cost of One Hundred Million Dalasis (D100 Mil...