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Momodou
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 Posted - 22 Aug 2006 : 23:39:50
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LIVESTOCK MARKETING BILL PASSED
By Abdoulie G.Dibba
Deputies at the National Assembly on Wednesday Passed the Gambia Livestock Marketing Bill, 2006. Tabling the bill before Deputies, the Secretary of State for Agriculture, Yankuba Touray, indicated that the Livestock sub-sector in the Gambia contributes significantly to the economy.
However, SOS Touray said that Livestock Marketing in the country is faced with a multitude of problems requiring urgent attention. SOS Touray told Deputies that the major objective of the Bill is to regulate and rationalize the trade in livestock and reorganize livestock dealers, owners, butchers and other stakeholders involved in the industry. Another important objective of the Bill, SOS Touray said, is to repeal and replace the Livestock Marketing Act of 1978, which has become obsolete with the privatisation of the defunct Livestock Marketing Board (LMB). The Act, he said, provides the legal framework for Livestock Marketing Production and processing and also introduces a viable and fair pricing policy for Livestock.
In his contribution to the bill, the Minority Leader and member for Serekunda Central, Hon. Halifa Sallah, indicated the following: - “Hon. Speaker, we are told that the Agricultural sector i.e. the combined fishery and Livestock sectors, contributed 30 per cent of GDP. We are told in the budget speech that they had growth of 3 per cent in 2005. So it is a very important sector as far as the economy is concerned. The object and reason of introducing this Bill is very significant since it is a constitutional requirement. Sector 10 (g) states categorically that “No bill other than a Bill referred to in sub-section (5) shall be introduced into the National Assembly unless it is accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out in detail the policy and principles of the Bill, the defects which it is intended to remedy and the necessity for its introduction.” Hon. Speaker, we have been told that the object of introducing this Bill is four fold; that it is to regulate and rationalise trade in the Livestock sub-sector and reorganise livestock dealers, owners, butchers and other stakeholders involved in the industry. Looking at that particular aspect, we have seen that clause 4 and 5 seek to introduce some form of regulation and rationalisation. Clause 4 imposes on the Department of State to designate depots, holding grounds and agencies for the purchase, delivery grading, sale and export of Livestock. So one fundamental role of the Department is to introduce weighing facilities, including scales or weight bands at buying stations. Well this is to ensure that there is an expansion of weight bands and weighing scales to all the buying points. What needs to be clarified is whether the Department of State is going to buy all these gadgets and supply them to the buying stations or it is going to be the responsibility of those selling to acquire these gadgets. These need to be clarified in terms of the education to be given for the smooth implementation of the Bill, if it becomes an Act. The Bill goes further to emphasize, Hon. Speaker that permits and certificates are to be issued to buyers and dealers in livestock, operators of abattoirs and slaughter slabs and butchers.
The Bill goes further into issues of inspection jointly with the Department of State for Health and the issue of consulting with the Local Government Authority, to be able to disseminate this Act. So Hon. Speaker, we are talking about a multiplicity of institutions responsible for the actual implementation of the Act.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 68/2006, 21-22 August, 2006
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