State
House, Banjul, 27 February, 2020 – His Excellency President Adama Barrow on
Thursday pledged to rebuild Basse market into a first class one with
international standards. He also made a personal contribution of two million
dalasis towards the emergency fund created by URR authorities to the emergency
cause.
The President said the inferno saddened him
personally; his government, the entire country and the sub region as a whole.
He said from the list of victims, the market truly depicts a sub-regional one,
not just a Basse market. Its impacts are far reaching beyond just the vendors
and commercial community who in fact, bear the brunt of the loss.
“We will urgently set up an inquiry to probe
into the incident and come up with facts that will guide our intervention in
rebuilding a market of international standard for Basse. My government will do
all it can to build a first class market here,” President Barrow said.
He called on the public to desist from
politicising the fire incident, adding that it should be treated as a national
disaster, and with patriotism. “All should dip into their pockets, especially
philanthropists, to raise funds to support this cause,” he maintained.
The Gambian leader noted that the emergency
intervention by the Senegalese fire service from across the border also
indicates a deeper sense of brotherhood between the two countries and the need
for peaceful co-existence. He appealed
to Gambians, the international community and development partners to help with
reconstruction.
Governor of the region, Fanta B.S. Manneh,
praised the gallantry of the fire fighters from the region, Bansang and the
neighbouring border town of Vellingara, who came as reinforcement. She thanked
the military, police and Chinese construction workers on the ground, who worked
together to contain the fire.
It was reported that the incident began by 7pm
and lasted all night, while residents were engaged in supporting firefighters
in whatever form they could.
A
representative of the market fire victims, Aja Bintou Banta Camara said the
victims received the news of the fire in good faith and took solace in the
visit by the President. She appreciated
that the President earlier dispatched the Vice President to extend solidarity
and conduct a preliminary assessment of the extent of the disaster.
On behalf of the victims, she urged for urgent
government intervention to rebuild the market, as the market is the source of
livelihood for thousands who directly depend on it.
Similar urgent appeal was made by a
Mauritanian victim. Vendors of the inferno include nationals from Senegal,
Mali, Guinea, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria among others, representing
the diversity of ECOWAS nationals doing business in Basse.
According to the Alkalo of Basse, Honourable
Sellu Bah, the devastating impact would have included loss of human lives had
the fire started during the day.
