By Assan Bah
The residents of Janbang Estate on Tuesday, August 16, 2022 called on the government to urgently come to their aid and address their problems after flood ruined homes and livelihoods.
The flood destroyed over 30 households, rendered others homeless and caused the closure of a praying mosque in the Estate.
The disaster also prompted officials from the National Disaster Management Agency and Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSHFC) to visit the affected families and discuss with them to ensure their needs are addressed.
Isha Kah, a flood victim, said most of our feedings had been destroyed by the flood.
“We had never witnessed this kind of flood before; you can see all our beddings, seats, clothes are all here placed outside because they are wet, destroyed by the flood. But thank God there was no life lost,” she said.
She however said she heard President Adama Barrow come to the place but stopped on the main highway, adding that her husband received a bag of rice.
“We are calling on the government to provide us with waterways so that we will not experience this problem again. They should provide us with good drainage systems. All our feedings, clothes have been destroyed by the floods and they have no use. We are calling for support from everyone and any kind of support is welcomed because we are badly affected by the flood,” she said.
Madam Kah further said that they had to go to Farato for three to four days because their compound was filled with water and they deemed it unsafe to stay there with their kids.
“All our documents have been consumed by the water, including my children’s results, with my laptop and even our television,” she said.
Babacar Jallow, a shopkeeper at Jabang, said since the flood happened, business had not been going as usual because the road to his shop is flooded and there is still stagnant water there.
Jallow revealed that they are hosting one of their neighbors who was spared with nothing by the flood.
“The water entered my shop and destroyed some of the merchandise and even my refrigerator. I can say that we don’t live in peace here because during the rainy season, we will not be comfortable for the whole season. And SSHFC has sold everywhere which has caused some of the flooding in the area because these compounds are built in the waterways,” Jallow said.
He also said life has been difficult for them since the recent downpour because the water is still stagnant at the entrance of his shop, preventing his customers from getting to the shop.
He called on the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSHFC) to help them to live a stable life by providing them with good waterways and or drainage systems.
“If good drainage systems were constructed here, all these would have not happened,” he said, adding that estate owners started the construction of roads but they are incomplete.
Sheikh Tijan Sowe, also a resident of the estate, said his car full of water and it had some break downs as a result.
“I returned from Farafenni and found that the car was full of water and it is a BMW benz,” he added.
He blamed the Brikama Area Council for increasing the compound rent, saying “because they think if you live in an estate you have money which is not the case.”
“Before increasing the compound rent, provide us with our basic needs because we do not have any garbage collector here and there is no sewage where the water will pass through plus there are no proper roads,” he said.
He said when it rains sometimes they will not sleep because flooding occurs. He revealed that their stay in the estate had lots of stress because it’s only six months they live freely without destruction.
This is a developing story and this medium will follow it up.
