By Madi S. Njie
Lamin Darboe, president of Tanji drivers’ association, said a place has been designated for them to use as a car park, but the car park needs rehabilitation as it is located in a swampy area. He said the car park could be inundated if it is not filled with gravel before the rainy season.
According to Darboe, the place was initially used by women for gardening, adding it is a water catchment area and water flows through that area from the village to the river.
He recalled that the former Brikama Area Council (BAC) Chairman invited car park representatives in the West Coast Region, to discuss their plight and provide solutions.
Mr Darboe said Tanji and Lamin sent in representatives who lamented the need for new car parks, adding that the BAC Chairperson promised at that meeting to upgrade their car parks.
“The chairperson promised to pay us a visit during Ramadan, to assess the situation of our new car park, which also needs a sewage system to allow flood waters to flow smoothly into the river,’’ he said.
Mr Darboe appeals to other stakeholders to help them fill the car park with gravel before the rainy season starts. He said this is one of their major concerns since they were provided that land earlier this year, through the community’s intervention. He said they also need support to construct the roads linking the villages of Tanji, Lansarr and Madiana as these roads need to be upgraded, because they are more difficult to use during the raining season. If readers can recall, drivers in Tanji were evacuated by the taskforce from their original base at a main junction along the highway during President Adama Barrow’s visit in December 2023. This intensified their call for a new car park from the village authorities of Tanji. Some women market vendors have already started occupying the new market where gravel is needed to prevent inundation during the rainy season.
