By Amadou Manjang
Operation Clear the Road task force seized a large quantity of goods from the Serekunda Market on Friday.
The confiscated goods, which mainly included vegetables, were loaded in two lorries. The seized goods were taken to the Mobile Police Headquarters where they are kept.
The operation is conducted by the Gambia Police Force, the Army, and the National Roads Authority among other stakeholders who made up the task force.
According to Karafa Manneh, an executive member of Operation Clear Road, the vendors will pay a fine before they collect their goods.
He added that they pursued vendors who ran and hid their goods in compounds and shops to confiscate their goods.
Some of the vendors were watching their goods while their goods were seized by the task force and loaded in the cars. Some vendors were seen at the Mobile Police Headquarters negotiating to collect their goods.
Meanwhile, if the vegetable goods are not properly stored, they will get spoiled once they are kept for a long time without being collected by their owners.
According to one woman, not all goods kept in the compound were from the runaway vendors.
‘Some of us used the compounds as stores. We kept our goods there and they have collected them,’ she told Foroyaa.
“Some of us parked our goods and left and the task force just collected them. This is not fair.”
The police were seen taking goods from compounds and loading them onto the lorries.
According to Modou Musa Sisawo, the Police PRO, the exercise was the third time since the operation cleared the road started in Serekunda.
He said when the task force arrived, vendors took their goods and ran to hide them in the surrounding compounds, which made the task force to chase them.
He further lamented that when the task force leaves, the vendors will come back to the roadside to sell their goods.
He said the task force chased them because the people were defiant.
He clarified that the operation is clearing roads, not the market as the road is meant for the vehicles to use and not to sellgoods.
