We wish to revisit the state of preparedness of our drainage systems, gutters and  water-ways as the rains will not wait and what we uncover is another lacadisical attitude in our work places and offices when it comes to execution

Yes it is that time of the year that we all hate and that time of the solar system when the earth rotates on its axis to give us rain and when our memories, indeed very dark and murky reflections storm our oblongata about what it means to dwell in shanty town Jeshwang in the rainy season.

You turn red and sometimes blue when after a hard day’s work coming home or waking up so early in the morning going to work in pursuit of earthly gains and things that make sense you buckle your shoes and roll your trousers and get set to start jumping, limping, swimming and navigating a way to and from your place of interest. Yes the rains are here and we all know what that means as city and town dweller in the Gambian context.

This is a very bad time for city people as 90% of us hate the smell, the pungent cull-de-sac ventilation, the small waters pad and wads, the mosquitoes, the fouling of chicken, dogs, goats and all domestic pets we keep with us, you know what I mean if you are a pet breeder, it all a circus of calypso of dirt and water. It is a very bad time for all of us and are you ready?

Ahoy to personal readiness

As an individual have you tried asking yourself for a minute this vital question about how prepared you are for the rains? As responsible people I think we are well equipped to sort out most of the ills that befall us but only if we take time and think first before action time so that we are not taken by surprise or unprepared to face the challenges that lies ahead of us.

A little thinking can sort many of our problems but for some reasons we are just too lazy physically and mentally or maybe we are idle or too busy, too forgetful to just think about our immediate environment and what we can do to improve it, protect it and preserve it for generations yet unborn.

What are you doing towards your mosquito nets needs and how about your detergent, dettol and mosquito dip and spray as the rains set to attack? How about your diet supplements tablets, your paracetamol needs and your doctor check-ups dates and appointments.

Are your thinking about health and safety in your houses meaning how old is your palm tree rugs, how about the corrugated iron sheet. Have you look at ceilings and whether there is fertile ground for breeding spaces for snakes and other reptiles. Please do your own homework on the environment and your immediate surrounding as any thing that goes wrong in your area will affect the way you live and your family may be at risk for the next seven to eight months meaning living in fear and poverty.

What is kmc doing in preparation of the rains

As responsible public bodies, the KMC, KAC, BAC, BCC, JAC and the rest of them should at every stage of the seasons notably the rainy season come up with programmes and pilot project to respond to the public needs or demands. Area councils in Gambia and as Borough in the UK they are indeed very powerful and empowered organisations that should reach out to places and people who are not within the network of central government.

These people and places are sometimes too minute or remote that central government strategies and planning cannot owing to resources or demographical indication unable to be covered or combed in whatever is design for the common good of each and every citizen. The Area councils in our Gambian experience has been great under achievers both at local and national level.

The scope and mandate of these councils are so convincingly great that one is left to wonder as to why our neighbourhoods are engulf in so much dirt despite the monthly clean the nation shows and exercises. It also begs reasoning as to why there is lack of electricity and pipe borne water and street lights in some suburban dwellings especially in the Greater Banjul Area. I am also fill with consternation as to why most of our schools still go on for more than a decade without maintenance, why our streets are always dirty, why there are  hardly any new projects, roads, buildings, infrastructure, agricultural expansions, scholarships, markets that should have been the done by councils on a frequent time frames.

Settling and blocking the major waterway that divides serrekunda into two halves

Since time immoral and way back when we were children we used to lark around, fool about and swim into the estuary of the Fajara Atlantic Ocean tributary. Way back dating pre 1979 the immediate mouth of the Atlantic Ocean was named Third Pump, then some 6 Nautical miles down stream was named Second Pump and that is the area surrounding the Bridge that you cross from Badala Park heading into Novotel now Kombo Beach and then there is First Pump, kids favourite as that was were beginners start to learn to swim and get tested by the bigger boys in Second Pump and when you graduate you can ply your skills on the Third Pump. What a journey into history but those days were very lovely days and Master Danso was then at his very best at Latrikuda Primary School.

There were plenty fish in all these courses of the tributary of the Atlantic Ocean coming from Fajara. The First, Second and Third Pumps now gave way to industrial development and the bridges are almost non-existent and more hotels and private living dwellings are taking root on this beautiful tributary. The fishes are gone and flower growers took their places. The golf course has also lost some of its beauty as this river used to give the golf course a nature’ s gift of life and colour and vibe.

That is the branch of the sea that comes riding into Serrekunda from Fajara through to the Traffic Light junction linking the traffic light junction and kotu Police then through Pipeline then unto Latrikunda German notably known to the rest of the Gambia as Latrikunda Yiri Nyarr then to the famous border between Latrikunda German and Kotu Quarreh.

In the worst part of the rains we did use rafters from the Sibi Trees to cross from Latrikunda German section called ERRINJANG to Kotu Quarreh. As children growing up in Latrikunda German we had great memories of the lives and times on the Latrikunda German and Kotu Quarreh Border where there were even fishes and some minute wild life way back dating pre 1979. All the vegetation, wildlife, Bird sanctuary and fishes are all gone giving way to industrial flats and touristique madness. Where is the KMC from then to today? I honestly think there is a big role for the KMC in protecting and preserving the environment and healthy living in the Borough.

Stand up and be counted as you should be a market leader as the other councils can learn a lot from you as you are the biggest, strategically. At this junction I must salute Abdoulie Njie(Garga), Phillip Sock, Sainey and Sanna Jabang, Bakary Touray(Jalang),Ebrima Faye, Lee Hanee (Abdoulie Joof), Kebba Sallah, Alaghie Sallah, Burang Ceesay, Lamin Trawalleh, Daddy Jobe, Benz and EBoue Carbrouse and the rest of the boys at Latrikunda German bordering Kotu Quarreh way back to pre 1979.

I thank them all for growing up together in a very good environmentally friendly and culturally rich childhood era along this great waterway at Latrikunda German. These are my folks and please big-up yourselves wherever you may be from Seattle to Koina.

Back to the River that divides Serrekunda into two halves from the German –Kotu border it comes down to Manjai and there are bridges over it at manjai and then into Dippa Kunda then heading to Tipper Garage through to London corner then that is where I lost track of it as it heads into other areas of Serrekunda then may be linking with the river that enter Jeshwang from Banjul.

As you can see this is a strategic tributary and very vital in the natural movement of rain water in our neighbourhoods and then into the sea. People are continually settling on the river and it is so bad around tipper Garage that there is need for KMC and even Central Government to halt the practise of settling on the Water way. Believe me this can trigger a flood anytime and any moment that Gambia registers a rainfall bigger than we witness as a nation so far. There may be a day we will all remember for a long time if we persist and continue to settle on the water way that flooding might strike serrekunda.

Our quest for dwelling spaces increases and the supply is limited coupled with population explosion. KMC must act now to stop people settling on the water way and the Department of State for Lands must also refrain from allowing people lease these areas as they are natural drainages and settling on them will only triggers an environmental catastrophe if the rains increase more than we see over the years. Coupled with people settling on the water way the water way is serving as an absolute retreat  point for all the waste and rubbish we cannot throw on top of cleansing service trucks, it all find its way onto the water way.

It is a breeding space for countless mosquitoes and germs that could ferment a great health risk to all resident living along the waterway. The KMC and the DOSH should work in collaboration and spay the length and breathe of the water way to kill and halt the spread of any possible germs and other disease that breed in such inviting dirt and filth. That is a must and if it is not done we will pay more by way of putting pressure on demands for drugs, hospital beds and wasted hours of wok owing to a sick workforce. The responsible authorities notably KMC must act now for a healthier Gambia and cleaner and fresher environment. The pictures on this write-up tells the entire story.

To be continued