By Kumba Leigh
In July 2022 a devastating flash flood disaster destroyed many households across the country, affecting tens of thousands of people and households, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA).
Since then Government and partners have been helping the victims to rebuild their lives and livelihoods.
The latest of such assistance was done on Saturday 12th October, 2024, when the NDMA, through the ECOWAS-funded GMD41 million project distributed non-food items worth 10 million Dalasi following a cash transfer of 9,000 Dalasi to each of the disaster victims. The aid targets six hundred and sixty-one (661) victims from Kanifing Municipality, five hundred and seventy-nine (579) households in Brikama, twenty (20) for LRR, two hundred and eighty-four (284) for North Bank Region, two hundred and twenty-six (226) for CRR South, four hundred and sixteen (416) for CRR North, one hundred and forty-nine (149) for Banjul, and three hundred and fifteen (315) for URR. A total of two thousand, six hundred and fifty (2650) households benefited countrywide.
Speaking to journalists, after the presentation, at the Kanifing Municipal Council, Sanna Dahaba, Executive Director, National Disaster Management Agency, thanked ECOWAS and The Gambia Government for their continuous support to disaster victims. He reported that The Gambia is second out of the 15 ECOWAS Member States, in terms of disaster mitigation presentation.
He explained that ECOWAS supported 2650 households, but that the number of the needy had increased to over three thousand victims (3,000) and The Gambia Government was able to generate funds from the savings it mobilised overtime to support the remainer.
Mr Dahaba noted that the support to the disaster victims is an indication of Gambia Government’s commitment towards disaster governance and management. He explained that the affected families were identified through a data verification scheme.
“In 2022, there were devastating flash floods that affected over fifty (50) thousand people, and seventy thousand households. The Government of The Gambia reached out to development partners like ECOWAS, European Union, and other agencies to seek assistance”.
The NDMA Boss further revealed that Government has heavily invested in flash flood victims in Jabang, Jabal-Sanneh, Sanneh-pochunpi, Suruwaa-kunda, Basse and Sanneh-Madina.
He said there is a paradigm shift in terms of disaster management, and that Gambia Government has scaled up its disaster mitigation efforts.
Ngange Jeng, the NDMA Disaster Coordinator for Kanifing Municipality, said in KM alone, they have recorded one thousand, two hundred and ninety-two (1292) household victims of the 2022 flash floods, but that they had received similar support last year.
“We received 3,616 US Dollars from ECOWAS to support 2,650 households across the country and out of that number, 661 household are from KM and each received 9,000 Dalasi, and non-food items like solar lamps, and detergents, among others, so that it will help keep the house hygienic,” he remarked. He revealed that the total cash transfer for the KM victims amounts 5.9 million Dalasi.
For his part, Lamin S. Sanneh, Project Manager for Kanifing Environmental Transformation Programme, Kanifing Municipality, called for attitudinal change, charging that most of the disasters happening in the country are caused by people.
Fatou Jorbateh, a beneficiary thanked NDMA and ECOWAS for the support.
