Banjul fishermen decry loss of revenue amid covid-19

Businessmen and women around the Banjul beach especially fishermen have expressed their dissatisfaction in the way their businesses are been affected amid covid-19 outbreak in the country.

Fishermen and vendors at the site have made complaints about how the covid-19 has affected their daily activities as well as being sluggish.

President Adama Barrow made a declaration in a televised statement on Friday evening; designed to stem the spread of the deadly covid-19, which according to the businessman and women has inflicted significant havoc on their businesses.

“Honestly things are very difficult for us since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country. Our businesses have now been stagnant since the declaration of the state of emergency due to covid-19,” said Hadim Ceesay, a fisherman at Banjul fish landing site.

He added that they are losing lot of income because people are afraid to come and buy in the midst of the coronavirus.

“People are no longer coming for shopping due to the fear of the virus. Sometimes even to have money to buy fuel for our boat or ice blocks to ice for our catches is a problem,” he said.

Pateh Manneh, a fisherman, also said that the covid-19 is making things very hard for them.

“We will now invest a lot of money for fish and in the end, we would not even have half of the money spent. People are no longer coming to buy fish which is making things very difficult for us,” he said.

He added that sometimes they would even go to the market to buy something for their businesses, however, at the end of the day, all the shops are found closed.

Amadou Manneh said: Things are very hard for all businesses just like how it is around the world. Since the covid-19 outbreak in the country, things have been very difficult for businesses in the country. We appeal to the government to come to our aid and assist us. This is the only place we get our earnings to feed ourselves and our families.

The vendors around the Banjul fish landing site have also made complaints about how the covid-19 is making life difficult for their businesses.

Neneh Loum, a vendor, said their businesses are at standstill.

“Before the outbreak of covid-19, my business was really going well, but now things have become very bad and this is the only place where I earn to feed my family,” she said.

She added that sometimes they would come to sell and there would be no customer as everyone preferred staying home.

Absa Sabally, also a vendor, said most of their customers are now afraid to buy their wares due to fear that they would contact the virus.

“We will invest lot of money in our business, but in the end, people would not come and buy. This is something very bad for us,” she lamented.

Boat passengers and customers also joined others to say that though the virus is making things very difficult businesses, it is also spoiling all their activities as well because of the fear of going out.

“We all need to be very careful about the disease and know that things are very difficult for us and The Gambia in general. We are all adhering to the advice given by the government and WHO to stay at home,” said Yusupha Jabang.