First
Lady Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow yesterday donated food items to Serekunda General
Hospital in Kanifing and centre for prison services.
The
donation included 20 bags of rice, 10 bags of sugar, oak meal and rice pudding
to each of the two recipient institutions.
Speaking on the occasion, the permanent secretary at the Office of the First Lady, Alimatou Tambadou, said the First Lady’s foundation, FaBB, deemed it necessary to embark on the donation to help the needy and less privileged people as part of the Ramadan spirit of caring and sharing.
“Ramadan is a month of helping and sharing,” she said, adding that FaBB is a charitable foundation established by the First Lady to help the needy and less privileged to have better living condition.
At
the presentation at Serekunda hospital, the permanent secretary of the Ministry
of Health and Social Welfare, Dawda Ceesay, said the ministry appreciates the
noble gesture of the First Lady and her foundation.
“The
food donation will go a long way in helping patients and escorts in the Ramadan
because many of them are from the rural areas,” he said.
“The
First Lady has been doing splendid in helping people in times of need.”
Bulli
Dibba, permanent secretary at the Ministry of the Interior, said his ministry
is to embark on security reform in the prison sector with the aim of improving
prison services in the country.
As
part of this reform, the government is looking at the condition of prison cells
and the health system of the prison, he said.
Since
the advent of the new government, he said, the number of prisoners declined
from 900 to 200.
Dr
Bekai Camara of Serekunda hospital commended the First Lady and her foundation
for the donation, saying it would go a long way in helping patients and escorts
in the hospital.
