(Thursday September 01, 2016 Issue)
National
Environment Agency (NEA) has donated an assortment of cleansing materials to
Banjul City Council (BCC) to enhance the council’s work in keeping the city clean.
NEA
officials said the donation is in response to the call of the Gambian leader,
President Yahya Jammeh, to support the implementation of the monthly Operation
Clean the Nation by capacitating municipalities and area councils.
Speaking
at the presentation ceremony at the premises of BCC, Mayor Abdoulie Bah said
with the donation from NEA, the council would further work harder to keep the
city clean.
“The
president of The Gambia is really concerned about environmental sanitation as
again manifested by the ban on plastic bags,” he said. “On our part, there are nine wards in BCC and
each ward has a personal cleaner to ensure that there is no dumping site in
Banjul.”
Mayor
Bah said his councilors would continue to sensitise there wards about the
anti-littering law.
He
said: “We have also consulted the Chief Justice and the Ministry of Environment
to provide us with a First Class Magistrate to make sure that whosoever is
caught dumping in the city is severely dealt with.
“The
capital of Rwanda is the cleanest city in Africa; why can’t Banjul too achieve
that status.”
Executive
director of NEA, Ndey Sireng Bakurin, said the agency donated the materials to
support the people of Banjul as the city celebrates 200th anniversary.
“Clean
environment and public health is a major component of staying healthy,” she
said.
She
affirmed that at NEA, they believe in joining hands with institutions like BCC
to achieve the mutual goal of environmental sanitation.
The
chairman of BCC, Mustapha Bachilly, commended the NEA for its continued support
to the BCC.