By Nelson Manneh
As part of their Corporate Social Responsibility, Guaranty Trust Bank Gambia Ltd., on Saturday 3rd May 2025 commissioned a solar powered water borehole for the community of Sare Cherno village, a settlement in Junglagel Ward in URR with fourteen compounds and a population of about eight hundred and fifty people, to ease the challenges they face in accessing water. The community has a long history of water challenges that affected residents who rely mainly on livestock production to earn their livelihoods, and the occasion was a joyful moment for the people of the village who celebrated the commissioning of the water borehole which has ended their decades of struggle in accessing clean drinking water.
According to officials of the Bank, Saturday’s commissioning of the borehole was a fulfillment of an important corporate social responsibility pledge that the Bank undertook. The Assistant General Manager of GT Bank Gambia, Alpha Salieu Sowe, said the borehole is one of many life changing interventions that the bank has provided for rural communities across the country. He said several boreholes were delivered to communities as a fulfillment of the Bank’s corporate social responsibility pledge to the country and the people who have been loyal and supportive to the Bank. Sowe added that the Bank chose to provide water for the people of Sare Cherno because they believed that access to clean drinking water is an inherent right for every human person and even animals and is a basic necessity for the sustenance of life.
“GTBank is a market leader in The Gambian banking industry that offers a wide spectrum of financial products and services ranging from account packages uniquely designed to fit customer’s banking needs and lifestyles, to value added services, and the Bank will continue to be a trail blazer in providing electronic services to Gambians,” he said.
The Chairperson of Basse Area Council Mr. Muhammadou Ceesay, said the borehole will relieve the water shortage challenges that has overwhelmed the people of Sare Cherno, and said providing access to clean drinking water for the people of URR, is a key priority of his Council. He said they have always looked for partners like the GT Bank to achieve this all important goal for communities in URR.
“Today we are happy that GT Bank has come this far to provide such services to our people, and we commend the Bank for its intervention because the borehole will immensely enhance the livelihood of the people of Sare Cherno village,’’ Chairperson Ceesay said.
The representative of the Chief of Jimara Morrow Krubally, expressed appreciation to GT Bank Gambia for providing the solar powered water borehole for the people of Sare Cherno, while outlining the struggles the community faced over the years in accessing clean drinking water.
“We know how important water is to our lives. Our women struggle both day and night to make sure that water is available to their families. Today the GT Bank has come to their aid by providing them with a borehole to enhance their access to clean water,” he noted.
The president of the women’s organization of the village of Sare Cherno, Fatoumatta Jallow, said they are the major beneficiaries of the borehole because they utilize water for both domestic and agricultural purposes.
“We have faced lots of challenges when it comes to accessing clean water in the past. Today we are grateful to GT Bank for solving this problem that we have battled with for many years,” she noted.
Guaranty Trust Bank Gambia Ltd. was established in March 2002 to serve individual and corporate financial needs of Gambians, and to give back to communities and in the past two years, the bank has supported several communities with access to clean drinking water.
