Civil servants in The Gambia now have
all the reasons to smile as the government has budgeted D25 million to be given
out as development loan to civil servants starting from January 2013.
The Civil Service Loan Scheme will help
civil servants to supplement their meagre salaries and empower themselves
economically.
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| Hon. Kolley |
However, the Minister of Finance and
Economic Affairs, who disclosed the scheme, has said the loan will only be
provided to qualified civil servants, though he is yet to publicly establish
the criteria that will be used to know who is qualified.
He has not also said whether the loan
will be interest-free or not.
Finance Minister Abdou Kolley disclosed
this escape-poverty loan scheme on 3 December 2012 at the National Assembly in
Banjul while presenting the 2013 Annual
Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure of the Government of The Gambia for the
fiscal year January to December 2013.
However, some people have doubted the
scheme’s sustainability and also raised fear that it might be politicised.
Nevertheless, if properly done, the plan
could work as a deterrent to brain drain from the civil service that has for a
long time seen government employees seek greener pastures in the private sector
or abroad.
