Member of Parliament for Central Badibou
By Ramatoulie Jawo
Honourable Sulayman Saho, Member of Parliament for Central Badibou on Tuesday expressed his disappointment with officials of Gambia’s tourism sector.
The Central Badibou MP said he’s not satisfied with the way the Eco tourism lodges in the country are managed, and the recent remarks by a leader in the sector against old British women who come to the country on holiday.
“The Fifth Legislature has approved funds for the Ministry of Tourism to build Eco lodges within the country, and (at) those Eco lodges, there is no life existing there,” he said.
He added that recently the sector in a statement said those old British women, saying they come to have ‘sex’ with Gambian boys.
“That is very bad for the tourism industry, because those old women have their right to marry anyone, they want to marry. So if the Tourism Ministry is saying such, then they are discriminating those people’s right,” he stressed.
He said people always advocate human rights which includes getting married, and that if the ministry is saying such things it means they are violating those people’s rights.
“I don’t expect a serious institution to be saying such things, because if things like this keeps on happening, it will affect the institution and that is not good for our economy,” he lamented.
Last month, the Director General of the Gambia Tourism Board, Abubacarr S. Camara in a newspaper publication said The Gambia wants “tourists that come to enjoy the country and the culture, but not tourists that come just for sex.”