By Muhammed S. Bah
The Minister of Finance Amadaou Sanneh disclosed to the National Assembly that the Gambian State owns fifteen enterprises. Mr. Sanneh made this remarks during a question and answer session of the National Assembly on Wednesday 26 July 2017.
This was in connection to a question raised by Hon. Halifa Sallah member for Serrekunda , who asked the Minister of Finance to inform the Assembly the public enterprises established by Government and state and whether they owe debts or are paying dividends to government and if so how Much?
The Minister said a reconciliation exercise was conducted between the Ministry of Finance and some of the State Own Enterprises (STOEs) as of end of December 2014. “The reconcile amount was in the tune D1.2 billion in favor of Government” Minister Sanneh underscored.
He added that Payment Plans were agreed and some of the SOEs namely: Gamtel, Gamcel and GPA are honoring the agreement. He further stated that at the period of reconciliation NAWEC as an institution owes government approximately D1.4 billion in arrears. The Minister further told law makers that another reconciliation exercise will be done this year for the Period ending Dec 2016.
Mr. Sanneh pointed out that some SOEs owe significant amounts to suppliers and contractors. “NAWEC currently has a debt of D9 billion” The Finance Minister Disclosed. He added that only GPA is paying dividend to government, further stating that the last payment was in the tune of D1.5M for the period ending 2015.
Hon. Halifa Sallah further stated that according to section 160 of the constitution, Pensions shall be subjected to review to take account of relevant salary cases. The Honorable member for Serrekunda further asked the Minister to state the current pension’s entitlement for each category of pensions and further ask whether the government is to review and upgrade pensions entitlement?.
In response, the Minister said the matter should be referred to the Personnel Management office, office of the President, which he said has the competent authority that can provide appropriate responses. “I do however, see the need to review pension laws and regulations and especially to introduce a contributory pension schemes in the country” he concluded.
The question of pension payments regularly to retirees has been a hot topic with many people wondering whether senior citizens who deserved to be paid their pensions were in fact being paid during the Jammeh dictatorship. Many citizens were unceremoniously fired from their jobs without a cause. Restoring pension payments to deserving citizens who work all their lives is an obligation for the government.