- The Honourable Speaker of National Assembly
- My Lord Chief Justice
- Secretary General and Head of Civil service
- Service Chiefs
- Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps
- Lord Mayors of Banjul and KMC
- Governor West Coast Region
- Heads of Government Departments
- Members of DLEAG Board of Governors
- Staff of the Agency
- Members of the Media, and all other protocols respectfully duly observed
Good morning
Let us return gratitude to Allah (SWT) who has bestowed His blessing and guidance on us to gather here today. As Minister of Interior, I am proud to preside over this public drug destruction exercise.
In The Gambia, the number of youth indulging in drug abuse is on the increase, consequently they become vulnerable to health problems, crime and other forms of violence behaviors. It is evident that drugs has serious negative impact on the lives of our youths and as such I call on civil society organizations particularly youth groups to embark on mass public sensitization activities to make the noise loud that the youth should stay away from drugs.
Hundreds of youths who have wasted their lives because of drugs, are mostly victims of broken families, ignorance, bad influence etc. It is time for us to say ‘NO’ to illicit drugs, it is time for us to work on our future, and it is time for us to face the challenge with all our ability and strength to prove to the world that we can win the war on drugs.
On behalf of Government and my own behalf, I would like you to join me in congratulating the Agency for the wonderful work it has been doing especially over the past year in dealing with the world’s deadliest enemy, drugs. The seizure statistic of the first quarter of 2017 as alluded to by the Director General is testimony to this fact.
You will all agree with me that combating drugs is one of the most difficult job one can embark on in modern times. While the number of drug users and traffickers is on the increase, their methods of concealment are also getting more and more sophisticated. This has put drug law enforcers on the watch at all times and that our great DLEAG is no exemption.
The discovery and interdiction of these huge quantities of drugs is evident of the determined efforts of DLEAG in fulfilling its mandate as enshrined in the Drug Control Act (2003). Our dear leader H.E the President in his noble efforts to make this country the best place to live in the world has created the enabling environment for my ministry to effectively coordinate the activities of the institutions under my purview. Since I took over office as Minister of Interior, I kept on emphasizing that the new Gambia is highly sensitive to rights of citizens. However these rights does not offer incentive to anyone to harass law enforcement officers in the due execution of their duties. Let me make it crystal clear that the Gambia under the new dispensation cannot be a safe haven for drug traffickers and abusers. Therefore, drug induce criminal activities like armed robbery, rape and petty theft will not be condone.
I am pleased to inform you that all the drugs we are about to destroy today are exhibits of cases that have been successfully dealt with at the narcotic courts. These exhibits were keep in safe storage facilities under the watchful eyes of the Narcotic courts prior to their weighment and transportation to this destruction site.
I would like to congratulate the gallant staff of the Agency for your hard work. I have confidence in you and expect that, you will continue to live up to expectation. Be assured that all committed and hardworking staff will be recognized and accordingly rewarded. I have also noted the constraints of the Agency, and will state at this stage that the government through my ministry will make every effort to support this Agency in addressing these constraints.
Finally, let me take this opportunity to thank all invitees for coming to this event and further urge you to continue on the excellent support you are rendering to DLEAG. I would like to single out the security services and members of the diplomatic and consular corps who have always responded to the call of the Agency even at short notice. Surely, our success stories owe a lot to your support and continued collaboration.
I thank you all for your kind attention.
