{The new United States ambassador to The Gambia, George M Staples has hailed the government of The Gambia for being “very forthright in its opposition to international terrorism”.}
In his first meeting with the country’s senior journalists at the embassy’s residence in Fajara, Ambassador Staples described the US relationship with The Gambia as good.
“The government [of The Gambia] is providing troops for peacekeeping operations .Our citizens who come to visit the tourism sites and so forth have been welcomed as tourists. I think having His Excellency the President go to Washington for the recent African Leaders Conference signified again that we want to have very good relations with the government just as we do with the people in The Gambia .It should be better. Like with any country, any government there are always somethings that come along that sometimes cloud the relationship and make it more difficult, but friends work through these things.
Certainly that is my message here when I meet with officials and the public that we want the very best of relations .We want to do things respecting the sovereignty of the country and find ways we can cooperate together,” the diplomat, whose remarks revolved around many critical issues including the US foreign policy, said of The Gambia.
Commenting on the US contribution to the economic growth of The Gambia, he made it clear that his country doesn’t have a huge development or aid budget in The Gambia. This, he explained, is because “The Gambia is not one of the poorest of the poor countries compared to others”, attributing this to what he cited as the West African nation’s blessed geographical location as well as it’s tourism.
“It doesn’t have a huge population pressure like Rwanda or other countries that make it difficult to provide food etc. The US contribution has been advisory in terms of technical assistance and we provide ways for Gambians to become better educated through our scholarship programmes and information provided at the American corners,” he told journalists.
He recalled that in the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda and drought in Ethiopia, humanitarian assistance efforts were scaled-up in order to overcome mass sufferings of the people. He said during those periods, the US was in the forefront by providing relief assistance.
Ambassador Staples maintained that they will help young people who would be starting up businesses wherever they are, to make their country more efficient. He disclosed that they have a Small Self-Help Programme in The Gambia where communities can apply to secure grants to improve their livelihoods.
He stressed that no country can forever live on donor assistance, suggesting for African countries to stand on their own. He thus encouraged Gambian youth to embrace university education and make sure they have access to international credit facilities for more sustainable development.
Elaborating on the trade relations between the US and The Gambia, Ambassador Staples said the two countries have been trading for a long time. He pointed out that there is no restriction once one fulfilled trade requirements, saying this has enabled Gambians to travell to the US and do businesses vice-versa.
The US-Banjul diplomacy chief called for institutional strengthening for sustainable development. He indicated that the US has a number of programmes relating to judicial and parliamentary trainings so as to broaden understanding about what it really means to work in a parliament; and even journalism programmes.
The Daily Observer
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