The Technical Team from The Gambia Athletics Association which has been helping the Gambia Secondary Schools Sports Association with technical matters during the Inter School Athletics qualifiers in the Regions have boycotted the National Finals in Basse over bonus row.

The bonus disagreement stems from the Gambia Secondary Schools Association’s Executive unilateral decision to give the Technicians D2,500 allowances that exclude their feeding and accommodation. The technicians are expected to transfer themselves to and from Basse with the proposed D2,500 which they declined.  

A member of the Technical Team who wants to remain anonymous revealed that the team engaged the Secondary Schools Sports Authorities to increase their allowance but they could not broker an agreement.  

“We spoke to the president to increase our allowance because D2,500 is small for an allowance that includes our transportation from the Kombos to Basse. The transport fare from Kombo to Basse is D550 and that’s D1,100 to and fro.  

After engaging him (president), he has never got back to us. In the Regional Heats in Basse, we were given a D5,400 allowance which we take care of accommodation, feeding and transportation and we never complain. Even if they can’t add anything to that amount, we want to be paid at an exclusive allowance of D6,000 or D5,400 just like the heats in Basse. Some of our members even booked houses at Happiness Lodged for D1,200 per night,” an official lamented.  

The appointed Technical Team Members from the Gambia Athletics Association to School Sports are Mariama Sallah, Mam Kebbeh, Adama Jammeh, Malick Bobb, Javis Turner and Sergent Musa Sanneh.

By Ebrima KB Sonko