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Ostend Banjul Link Association donates ambulance to EFSTH

Feb 12, 2014, 10:05 AM | Article By: Malamin L.M. Conteh

Ostend Banjul Link Association, a body based both in Belgium and The Gambia, has donated a Nissan ambulance to Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul through the Banjul City Council.

The 13,000km journey took the donors 18 days to drive from Ostend City to Banjul.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony held at the BCC premises, the Lord Mayor of Banjul City Council, Abdoulie Bah, expressed appreciation to the donors for their magnanimous gesture towards the country and its people, saying his trip to Ostend gave birth to this donation.

Mayor Bah described his trip and the cooperation he had with Ostend as fruitful, adding that he was quite sure every Banjulian was aware of the link.

The link was also a newly married link between Banjul and Ostend City, he said, adding that the ambulance was not for Banjul alone but for the whole country.

He urged the users of the ambulance to take proper care of it, saying the vehicle also has four spare tyres and some medical items.

He revealed that he the Mayor would be monitoring it.

Bart Samaey, one of the drivers who undertook the long distance journey, said they went through a long journey before reaching their final destination, adding that they drove at a distance of about 13,000km, which took them 18 days to arrive in The Gambia.

He thanked the mayor for the warm welcome.

In her vote of thanks, Fatou Ceesay Nyabally, a staff of the hospital who received the donation on behalf of the hospital, thanked the donors for their gesture, saying she started working with the hospital way back in 1995, but the hospital had since been receiving useful donation from Ostend.

She assured the donors that they will ensure the ambulance serves its purpose.