The Association of Sailors commonly known as the Association of The Gambia Sailors (AGS) on Saturday 30th of December, 2018; held its annual general meeting at the Father Farrell Memorial Hall in Banjul.
It aimed to bring together all major stakeholders in the country to mutually work with the association in order to strengthen and harmonize their roles, and to understand the requirement of Maritime regulations and map out possible areas of cooperation.
In his opening remarked, Mr. Abdou Sanyang, the Secretary General of AGS described the convergent as significant in unifying the members of the Association with their partners, adding that it (AGS) has supplied more than two hundred and twenty sailors to work as collaborators in sea going vessels.
“We continuously seek for ways to improve our members’ chances of employment; we have started marking negotiations with several organizations in the Gambia and abroad among them is the American Deal. This deal will allow us to send sailors from various categories to work on US Vessels for an extended period couple with good payment,” he reaffirmed.
He added that:“Since the AGS administration commences, we have initiated some moves to partner with the Gambia Navy, Gambia Red Cross Society and Gambia Fire and Rescue Services.”
He then reassured his association commitment to establishing training at school for sailors in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Gambia Maritime Administration.
The institution will issue certificates of proficiency and competency for the grandaunts. He said, adding that the AGS shall endow a non interest loan scheme for the sailors, saying that the association shall approve a loan not more than D5000 to an experienced member of seafaring.
According to him, when a member of the association needs a loan to address nightmares at home, the person will be given a loan of about D3000 if the person is not on active duties, provided that the person had been a sailor before but has not been engaged in the industry for twelve months and free from areas of incrimination in the union.
Dr. Bamba Banja, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry of fishery and water resource said that his ministry had value and recognized the partnership between the two institutions.
He further said that the government policy toward the fishery sector is to ensure the sustainable of the fishery resources, noting the policy is paramount to make sure that the youth are continuously employed in the sector.
“For that employment venue to happen, we must collectively ensure that our resources are sustainably managed so that the future generation would continuously getting employment in the sector,”
He said that the government cannot attain the sustainable development of the fishery in the absent of the Association. He called on them to collectively work with the government to advance the fishery industry.
Author: Sulayman Waan
