Authorities urged to create more GAMBIS outlets

As the biometric identity cards and the drivers’ licence become more popular among the population, many people are now more desirous of obtaining the card. This necessitates that they leave their homes for as early as 5 a.m. to queue at the GAMBIS office. This, they hope, would ensure that they are attended to early and they also attend to their businesses as early as possible.

However, many people now complain that they are suffering economic losses as a result of their desire to obey this national call, and that the sacrifice now seems to be too much for them. Thus, they said, the creation of more outlets where people can secure their ID cards would help in alleviating their sufferings.

According to some of the ID card applicants who spoke to our reporter at the biometric identification stations along Jimpex road in Kanifing and in Brikama, Western Region, they waste valuable time while waiting for their turns to be served, and thereby miss out on a number of opportunities that have to do with their day-to-day business activities. They complained that this is a significant loss of revenue, which in the final analysis hamper on the country’s economy.

Sainey Manneh, a commercial vehicle driver said he faced lot of challenges before he was issued the card. According to him, he was on the queue for more than four days, a situation which created a dent in his daily takings during the time that it lasted. “Although I have it now; but my time was wasted in the process. I could not go to work on those days because I could not have my driving license without the biometric identity card.”

According to Edrissa Njie, another taxi driver who was visibly exhausted while waiting on a queue, it is expedient that more centers are created so that long queues could be avoided and people could be issued ID cards as soon as possible. He said many had left their businesses in order to get the card. But, the long queues discourage others who fear income loss.  
“This long queue is not good for us. We are getting frustrated because we spend too much time here. As taxi drivers, our business is dependent on getting the ID card. Therefore, we are appealing to the authority concerned to increase the number of stations nationwide so that many people could get their IDs without spending too much time or be exhausted waiting on a queue at the stations.

“I come here as early as 5 o’clock in the morning. Despite that, I meet hundreds of people, and we spend the whole day without still getting the card. I think they need to increase the number of stations so that our time wouldn’t be wasted. We need to renew our licence, and we cannot do that without the new identity card.”

According to Mr. Njie, he has not worked for three days due to lack of identity card. He said he loses D500 daily as he is not working at the moment.
The same is the situation for Pa Modou Jobe who put his daily loss at D600. “If I lose D600 daily, how can I survive? My taxi is my source of income. So when I don’t work, how can I pay my rent or other rates that I should pay?”

Kebba Saidy, who runs a shop, said he closes his shop for several hours so that he could use the time to apply for the new identity card, but he could not get it still because there are many people on the queue. He said his visit to the Brikama centre also proved futile.

“I could not open my shop today because I want to get the identity card. It is important for everyone to get it for identification purposes and also for business too. But getting it is a real challenge and authorities should help open more outlets. I believe time will come when it will be difficult to clear goods from the ports or to transact businesses in this country without the ID card.”

For Habibatou Sey, she has been coming and going for several days now. Yet, she could not have the identity card because of the long queue present on each occasion. “I left my two children at home so that I can quickly get the ID card, but I haven’t been able to move close to registering still.”

At Brikama, scores of applicants also made a long queue so that they could have their ID card. According to one Isatou Gibba of Brikama, she had been standing for more than hours and yet the queue did not seem to go anywhere. “I think I have to go back to the market and sell my goods before I lose more money since my business is my source of living. I haven’t sold anything for the past two days, and I have children to cater for.”

The Gambia Biometric Identity System (GAMBIS) is an integrated identity platform which commenced operations in July 2009. Speaking at the weekend at the opening of the GAMBIS office in Basse, the director general of the Gambia Immigration Department, Mr. Buba Sagnia said efforts are ongoing to ensure that more centres are opened. According to him, the moment feasibility studies are completed and necessary facilities put in place, centres would be opened in order to ensure that many people have opportunities to procure the biometric cards.