The
National Assembly member for Banjul North and committee member on health at the
National Assembly, Hon. Ousman Sillah, toured the Edward Francis Small Teaching
Hospital (EFSTH) and Gambia Senior Secondary School on Tuesday.
Speaking
during the tour, the public relations officer at the Edward Francis Small
Teaching Hospital, Momodou Lamin Jammeh, said that as the main referral
hospital in The Gambia they had informed Banjul City Council (BCC) about the
difficulties they have encountered.
Mr Jammeh pointed out that the difficulties
they face include inadequate oxygen bottles and that a continuous supply oxygen
for patients would costs D750,00 per month.
He
said they still have to provide it to the patients despite their financial
weakness.
Sillah
Ba Drammeh, the departmental matron for the Polyclinic said the facility was
built in 1988 but that there has been no major renovation since.
“Our
main constraints are furniture, a standby generator, working tools like blood
pressure machines, inadequate staff, the transportation of patients, a leaking
roof and lack of drugs as well,” he said.
“There
is only one computer that has an internet connection throughout the
Polyclinic,” he added.
Alfusainey
Sanyang, a senior nurse at the Polyclinic, requested the government through the
new National Assembly Member to help them with more nurses and specialized
doctors.
“All
major skin cases are being referred to the Polyclinic and there are no nurses
or doctors that are well trained on the course,” he said.
For
his part, Lamin M.B Jaiteh, the Principal of Gambia Senior Secondary School,
said, “the school was established in 1959 and I have been in the teaching in
the field for almost 40 years but for the first time in my professional life I
have seen a national assembly member visiting the school for which we are
grateful. We have tabled our problems to former National Assembly members but
no necessary action was taken,” he added.
Principal
Jaiteh, also pointed out the problems the school is facing, “the number of
students enrolled then was less than 500. Now we are enrolling over 2,500 and
this is having a negative impact on the building, the toilets and most especially
the school library and science lab.”
He
continued by urging Gambians to consider teaching as a meaningful career and
not merely a stepping stone.
After
the tour, the NAM for Banjul North, Ousman Sillah, said he is not only
representing Banjul North but The Gambia at large.
“I
have been acquainting myself with public institutions and facilities within my
constituency, Banjul North, in particular and Banjul, in general in the last
two days. It was also a fact finding mission to know what challenges people are
facing and how I can be of help in addressing them at the National Assembly,”
he concluded.
