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| Governor Ganyi Touray of CRR |
If the decision to move the venue for
this year's NaYCONF away from Janjanbureh did not go down well with one person,
it is the Governor of the provincial Central River Region. Ganyi Touray did not
even pretend to hide it. However, in this exclusive interview, he tells NaYCONF
Daily that although his intention was for the event to be held in Janjanbureh,
the provincial capital, now that Bansang, a major town in the same region, is
hosting it, he urges Janjanbureh to take it in good faith.
It is your region, CRR's
turn to host the NaYCONF this year. Can you share with us your impressions?
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| Governor Youray Speaking to Musa Fatty |
Well, I am very pleased with
the decision reached by the National Organising Committee, backed by the
president, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Dr. Alhagie Yahya A.J.J Jammeh, for
CRR to host this event. The last time CRR hosted it [then it was the Youth
Week] was in 1992. That is almost twenty years ago. It is due for the region to
host it now and thank God we are giving the opportunity, and we are looking
forward to see it happening on January 3, 2013.
What
does hosting NaYCONF mean to you as the Governor, in particular and the people
of CRR in general?
It means a lot to me as the governor
because this is an event that comes rare in one’s life time. It is hosted by
one region every two years. We have seven administrative regions. Which means
it takes almost sixteen to eighteen years for a region to host it again. It is,
therefore, a rare occasion for a region to host the event. You can even be
around to witness it, but to be part of it is a different thing. I am very
pleased to take part in the event and to be part of it as a governor.
What are some of the things that you have put in
place as the governor to make sure that the youth of CRR benefit from of the
opportunities that NaYCONF comes with?
That is for the National
Organising Committee…You can now see both the basketball and volleyball lawns
are finished. There was no light on the ground, and today you can see light in every
corner of the school. So those are some of the things that the community will
benefit from. That aside, the friendship and the social interaction among their
fellow youth during the period will make them to benefit from something which
can be meaningful in their lives.
What level of community participation do you
anticipate from this NaYCONF?
The communities are fully
sensitised and they are all aware of the event. As you can see all these people
have been working here since. Our participants as well are also fully prepared
and are all on the ground at the moment. We are having good participants and
lot of people will be coming for the event here this year. Our sensitisation
programmes was extended to other communities in the district and beyond,
because we are expecting a big crowd during the opening. Nonetheless, it is
going to be well coordinated.
NaYCONF 2012 was originally scheduled for
Janjanbureh until in the last minute when the NOC and LOC decided to move the
event to Bansang. What was the reaction of the people of Janjanbureh?
Yeah! Thank you for this
question. They were not happy with the decision. But then all what I told them
was that, when we had the NaYCONF in KMC in 2010, they did not say that the next
event will be held in Janjanbureh, Kaur or Bansang, but in CRR. In CRR, we have
six hundred and eight six (686) villages. It was we who decided to take it to
Janjanbureh. That was my wish and maybe the people I work with. But then
concerns were raised somewhere. So, I therefore thank the president for his
timely intervention, hence concerns were raised over Janjanbureh hosting the
event. You cannot take someone somewhere that he or she does not want. The
president said okay, you cannot force the people to go to Janjanbureh, but you
cannot also take the event away from the people of CRR.
I called the people of the
community and told them in a meeting that this thing does not belong to
Janjanbureh, but it belongs to CRR. We have other big towns in the region that
have secondary schools and can host the event, such as Brikamaba, Wassu, Kaur and Bansang. We want the event to take place
in CRR. That alone should satisfy the people of Janjanbureh. The decision was
not ours but people made concerns and I urged them to respect the concerns made
by the people coming to the event. They have now taken everything in good faith
and things are going very fine now.
Was it a hard decision for you to take to
transfer the event from Janjanbureh to Bansang, and do you think it will have any
negative effect to their participation in the event?
No, I don’t think it has any
negative effect to their participation, because out of the eleven bulls we
gathered in Janjanbureh one is from the community. Now we are talking of having
the conferences in Janjanbureh. All the ministers coming for the event will
stay in Janjanbureh. They are still not left behind. It was a very hard
decision for me to take. But when the truth comes, one has to say it.
The truth is that my intention
was for this thing to be held in Janjanbureh. But when the issues arose from
regions base on what happened in the last International Day for Women
commemorations held in Janjanbureh, people were afraid of hosting the NaYCONF
there.
NaYCONF offers an opportunity for youth to
showcase their talents and share ideas… What are your expectations of the 2012
event?
Well, I think that we are
expecting a lot from the youth, knowing the importance the government,
especially the President, attaches to youth affairs, as manifested in his
donation of D2.5 million to them for the event. He is interested in the youth
and they should show him what they can do, considering what he did, too, in the
Farafenni and the KMC event.
In that case, I think the
youth should also show their appreciation to him. This is a time for them to
show their loyalty to the President, looking at what he has recently done for
girls who participated in the U-17 World Cup in Azerbaijan.
Again, without his
intervention, this event would not take place this year. The NaYCONF made a
budget of more than D4M, but had only D1.2 million. And then the president came
in to give them D2.5M.
For the community of Bansang it
was a last minute preparation, how would you commend the effort of the people
of Bansang?
Oh! I must say they have
done extremely well because the very day I informed them that we have taken the
decision to bring the event to Bansang, I told that that it is CRR; that we can
prepare in twenty-four hours to host the event. The Local Organising Committee
and the people of Bansang as well as the surrounding villages reacted quickly
in meeting the deadline. Of cause, this does not go without the timely
intervention of some individuals like the Minister of Justice, some National
Assembly members, the acting Chief, the Alkalos, NAWEC officials, teachers and
students. So, I have to commend them for their valuable contributions.
What are your final words?
As I said before, I wish to thank
everybody, especially the National Organising Committee. Yes, we were all
concerned about what happened, and during that period we may have said
something unintentional to one another, when they were trying to change the
venue from CRR to another region. Although I am from CRR, as the head of the
region representing the president here, I will want this type of opportunities
to happen in my region and more importantly, in my time as the governor. That
was why I had to fight tooth and nail to make sure that NaYCONF happens in CRR
this time round. But it does not mean creating enmity between one and another.
We were not fighting with any region or any member of the committee, but we
were fighting for the interest of CRR, our region. I just want to assure the
people coming that we are all one.
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