The outgoing tourism minister Hamat Bah has unapologetically defended the decision to dissolve the Gambia Tourism Board for flouting his directive during covid outbreak.

Speaking at a news conference at Gambia Tourism and Hospitality Institute, Mr Bah said he directed the board chair to “demonstrate some responsible feeling of empathy and sympathy to those that have lost everything” during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.

However, he said: “the implementation process was lagging and nagging, and I am responsible for taking decisions that I deemed to be fit and necessary. (But) when I realised that there is a strong resistance to my directives, I asked the board to go and have a meeting (however) in that meeting it didn’t come out in the agenda even though I have written to the board to consider implementing this decision because we didn’t know when Covid is going to end.”

“It was initially from a period of two, three or one month and we considered asking whether we need to continue to close the board or dissolve it for everybody to go and redundant everybody. I am the one who made that decision. (But) I felt no we cannot make them redundant because everyone is redundant, but let’s make sure we give them a chance, let them earn half and we proceed and see the outcome.

“Some of them were bent on never to see that and we realised that the board was not acting the manner and speed we wanted. I appointed the board through the office of the President of the Republic of The Gambia. I straightway dissolved the board with the approval of the president of the Republic of The Gambia,” he added.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba