By: Nicholas Bass
The Brikama Area Council (BAC) has accumulated D103 million revenues in six months across West Coast Region [WRC], the council’s mouthpiece revealed Tuesday.
According to Lamin Singateh, the Public Relations Officer [PRO] and clerk of Brikama Area Council, the D103 million revenues the council accumulated were collected from licensing fees, value property, market dues, taxes and rates of units within West Coast Region.
He made the disclosure during an interview granted to this reporter in his office in Brikama on Tuesday.
“Initially our council realised that some of the taxpayers in the region were reluctant to pay their tax to the council, questioning how their taxes were utilized in the West Coast Region,” he noted. But he added that after the disbursement of D42M Wards development funds the trend of payment of taxes compliance changed. “The Wards Development Funds was meant to empower grassroot development across West Coast Region,” he said, adding: “one major development in good governance is inclusivity.’’
Turning his attention to the question of poor drainage system within West Coast, PRO Singateh admitted that it would be impossible for the council to fix the drainage system in the short run, noting that the amounts of resources required for a proper drainage system were very expensive.
According to him, fifty per-cent of the drainage system within Brikama Central Market was fixed by the council to enable traders and business owners to effectively and efficiently do their trade. ‘’At this moment, even in the near future I don’t think the council has the money to fix drainage system for all areas,’’ he lamented.
Mr Singateh also disclosed that the council declutched drainage system along Brikama Market, claiming that as of recent they have not registered flooding along Brikama Market compared to the past years wherein pedestrians had to raise their clothes before crossing the main market during the rainy season.
He added that BAC constructed a 120 meters drainage system at Jambarr Sanneh which he described as a remedy for flood victims in Brikama. ‘’These are some of the services the council wishes to expand on,’’ he reiterated.
As such, he said the council recently created Maintenance and Construction Division which would be charged with the responsibility of maintenance and construction works within the West Coast Region.
He stressed that due to the importance of managing waste in the region the council was compelled to purchase a fleet of vehicles, promising that the waste collection vehicles would be dispatched to West Coast communities in the ‘’soonest possible time’’.
BAC PRO acknowledged the challenges the council was facing in the area of waste management, which he claimed was a common challenge posing threats against health and wellbeing of humanity across the World.
Going further, BAC PRO pleaded with the public to pay tax for nation building, warning those who fail to pay their tax and rates to pay before they are dragged before the court for justice to take its course.
‘’Pay your tax and we will deliver the services, the greater tax compliances the bigger we have in service delivery and together we can make West Coast a better region” PRO Singateh emphasized.
