Majority leader at the National Assembly and Kombo South representative, Kebba K. Barrow, has dismissed calls to put a halt to operations of a Chinese fish meal factory Golden Lead which stands accused of environmental destruction in Gunjur.
In an extensive interview with The Standard newspaper, the majority leader of the House was pressed on the burning environmental issue which has been the subject of a legal battle amid protests.
His words:
“You know, the issue of the Chinese fishmeal factory has been overblown and it was not strategically done and people were doing things on their own way without consultation. They have been operating in Kombo South for 22 years before the elections, so if they are there and you are environmentalists, you do not follow up and say what you are doing is wrong and we want to correct the issues but waited until the eleventh hour when operations are in place, people are employed, women are working, they are earning their living, and you say that you want to make a decision to close that. It doesn’t work like that”.
Despite being roundly roasted for his handling of the community crisis, Kebba K. Barrow retains confidence his incumbency is not in peril.
“My interaction with young people, and also the women, vegetable growers, fish, processing, marketing and all those areas and working with communities supporting livelihood programs, those speak for themselves. And then it goes a long way in ensuring that that’s what the people put me in for. That’s why I scored one of the highest registered voters for a parliamentary member in the history of The Gambia – 10,022 votes,”
he boasted.