By Ebrima G. Sankareh

As the Jammeh government continues to accuse Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade of intent to destabilize The Gambia, our correspondent Kissy Kissy Mansa reports that soldiers of The Gambia National Army have been hurriedly deployed to Fort Bullen, located off the coast of The River Gambia at Barra, North Bank Division. There is a noticeable presence of soldiers since last week and heavy weapons have been transported from State House to Fort Bullen in the past week. Our reporter also says that a contingent of heavily armed soldiers have been deployed to Juffrey in the Upper Nuimi District.  

        In fact, a private citizen concerned about the apparent transformation of Fort Bullen to a military post has sent an E-mail asking us to investigate why the place is being renovated. According to this concerned citizen, “the Army occupied Fort Bullen and made it out of bounce to all and sundry. Worst of all they started tampering with the fabric in the guise of maintaining it! They whitewashed the whole structure, obliterating its authenticity, another criteria that needs to be fulfilled for World Heritage listing. This is like whitewashing history, a criticism that has been leveled against Cape Coast Castle in Ghana; and is likened to sanitizing history. I am a big stakeholder and do not know what to do! Why is the army installed there, arresting more progressive and professional development of the site? Perhaps you can investigate and give us the story behind Fort Bullen's occupation” ends our worried observer.

         We hope President Jammeh will come out with a press release to tell Gambians what is going on.