By Assan Bah
The newly built OIC P1 and P3 road projects in New Jeshwang were expected to ease movement and improve the lives of residents. Instead, they have left hundreds of families struggling with daily flooding, stagnant water, collapsing fences and sleepless nights.
A tour conducted by Foroyaa on August 20 revealed that the roads were constructed without gutters or proper water canals. With no exit routes for rainwater, the water now rushes directly into compounds, soaking homes and leaving families in constant fear whenever the skies darken.
For many residents, every rainfall brings chaos. Fanna, a resident, said, “My compound is flooded because there is no water-way to the stream. All this problems started after the construction of the road.” She added that sleepless nights have become normal because families spend all night bailing water out of their homes.
Another woman described her ordeal: “We are really disturbed by the persistent stagnant water in our compound. They constructed these roads without any gutters and this has made all our compound field-up with stagnant water everywhere; the toilet, kitchen and even inside the house.” She said she even fell while fetching water and now lives in fear of leaving her house because she is pregnant.
Ndey Jallow, found sweeping water from her doorstep, said, “This is how we have been living since the start of the rainy season. All my legs are itching because I spent almost all the day in it – either sweeping or cooking. Even to use the toilet one has to enter into it.” She added in frustration, “When a vehicle passes, we notice it – not by the sound of the engine but how the water flows into our compound.”
Mrs. Mariama Badjie, in her 60s, said it is the worst flooding she has seen in her more than 30 years at the same compound. “Everywhere in my compound is inundated with water, my well has even crumble because of the stagnant water. My garden is gone, our toilet is unsafe, and now I have to beg water from neighbors,” she lamented.
Nyima, heavily pregnant, said the conditions are unbearable: “We never sleep when it rains. You see am heavily pregnant and it is in this condition that I bail out water from my house all day.”
The floods have turned compounds into unsafe spaces. Children walk through dirty water, fences are cracking, and makeshift paths of cement blocks, empty bags and old car tires are being used just to access the school and clinic. These paths are so narrow that two people cannot pass at the same time.
Mrs. Amie Joof said her compound looks like a river after each rain. “I recently put a trip of sand here thinking that it would solve the problem but nothing has changed,” she explained. “The road is in my compound gate and no way was created for the flow of the rain water outside of my compound.”
Others, like Mama Susso, said family members have been forced to seek refuge in other compounds because their homes are underwater. “One of them sleeps in these conditions, which can give her all sorts of diseases,” she said.
Vegetable seller Mrs. Vesni Gomez said her health has suffered: “Because of the continuous bailing out of water, all my ribs and body is paining. We have really suffered this year.” She explained that a natural waterway that once carried rainwater was blocked during the road construction, forcing the water into people’s toilets and homes.
The crisis did not come without warning. In December 2024, the Ward Development Committee wrote to the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), describing the risk as a “looming catastrophic manmade disaster.” The letter noted that residents had already suffered from waterlogging during the rains because the road was raised higher than their compounds.
The letter warned: “Imagine if our people encountered problems with the sand backfill alone during the last rains, what will be our faith if a concrete thickness of fifteen centimetres (15cm) is laid on top of that said sand backfill.”
In January 2025, the NDMA wrote to the Ministry of Works proposing a site visit, but residents say their fears were never addressed. One resident, Sheikh Tijan Jarju, explained: “Both the contractors and ministry overlooked our warnings and went ahead to do things as they want. They put only small shallow drains throughout the road.”
He said that when the ministry promised to send a team in December 2024, only one engineer showed up. “The engineer said he will report to his superiors, but we have since never saw him, nor heard from the ministry.”
After months of silence, residents wrote again to the NDMA, warning against waiting for a disaster. “We urged them to prevent it instead of waiting for a disaster to happen and start giving us mattresses, bed nets or shelter,” Jarju said.
Even when senior officials from NRA, NDMA and Physical Planning later visited, Jarju recalled that an NRA officer admitted the compounds would flood. “But they said NRA has plans that would partially address the issue. It has been 6 months now and nothing has been done.”
Residents say they were misled. Jarju insisted: “Before demolishing some of our fences, they told us it was for the construction of gutters. They said P1 will have a big gutter and a small one but none of the two roads has gutters.”
Gabriel Gomez, a resident along the P3 road, echoed this frustration: “We were told the road would have gutters and pavements, but now it has been completed without a single gutter or culvert. Instead of making culverts in the main junctions, they just flattened it and now all the rain water diverts to our homes.”
He added, “I had personally called the attention of the contractors but nothing was done. We are surprised that both the President and Vice President came here but none of them took a step to address it.”
Teachers, traders, pregnant women, children and the elderly now live in conditions they describe as unbearable. The Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure was written to again on August 25, 2025, but residents say there has been no response.
