Office of The Gambian President: State House Online: Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh

The Programme For Accelerated Growth And Employment (PAGE) has been officially launched at a ceremony presided over by His Excellency, The President Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Jammeh on Wednesday in Kanilai. The document which succeeds the PRSP II has been proclaimed as The Gambia's National Development Plan for the period 2012-2015 and wishes to stay the course of the fight against poverty.

The mood was somber; cabinet still mourns the deputy Minister of Agriculture Khalifa Kambi. A minute silence was requested for the deceased at the launching ceremony which was rescheduled following his death on Tuesday. The strategic document, which assumes a greater role for the private sector under its priority action plan, was subsequently launched. It succeeds the PRSP II and its fight against Development's most mortal enemy-poverty. In a statement delivered on his behalf at the launching ceremony by the Vice President Her Excellency Aja Dr Isatou Njie- Saidy, the President vowed to stay the course of the fight against poverty, through the effective and vigorous monitoring of the implementation of PAGE which is expected to provide the tools for quality control measures that will ensure value for money:

"My Government will without fail continuously and vigorously monitor and evaluate the implementation of PAGE and the impact of its interventions not only for accountability and transparency of programmes but to use them as tools for quality control measures that will ensure value for money."

Its implementation will span a period of 4 years and the programme has been aligned with the MDG targets, and it is also government's medium term execution template for the vision 2020.

"One might have noted that the PAGE implementation period ends in 2015, the same period as the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets. This is not only a coincidence but a deliberate effort to use PAGE as a pathway to fast track the attainment of the MDGs through a comprehensive and organized direction."

It is a renewed battle with a more sophisticated approach to safeguard the gains so far registered in the most crucial sectors of the economy. It has agriculture as a topmost priority by virtue of its high employment benefits, with the Permanent Secretary the Ministry of Finance Mod Secka noting that PAGE if properly implemented will lay a solid foundation for the country's transition from a least developed to a middle income country.

For the Finance Minister Mambury Njie, PAGE is coming at a rather crucial time when the country's GDP growth rate is estimated at 5.5percent.

"The resultant PAGE document is therefore the development tool with which all actors in our national stage will – in the intermediate term – contribute their quota in transforming The Gambia into the economic superpower and beacon of peace as envisaged by our dynamic leader, His Excellency The President Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh.

Further to putting the spotlight on this laudable national vision, the creation of the PAGE has not only helped us as a country, focus collectively on our proud achievements over the past 15 years, it has also been able to identify the opportunities and strengths inherent to this small but great country of ours."

The prospects for positive implementation of the programme, according to the Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service Dr. Njogou Bah, are heightened by the reforms undertaken by government to make the civil service more effective and vibrant:

"We must adopt a comprehensive approach that addresses capacities and pursues reforms in all sectors of society. Some of the key reforms that Government has embarked upon that are proving to be game changers in the civil service includes: (a) the Judicial Reform, (b) the Civil Service Reforms and (c) Decentralization."

The launch has already attracted the attention of some potential investors from India. The delegation from the overseas Infrastructure Alliance Company, later called on the President to discuss plans for future investment in the energy, Infrastructure and Agricultural sectors through the incentives of the programme.

By Abdou Njie, GRTS