This is how public accountability should work.
The situation at the Brikama Fish Market was untenable. A facility sponsored by the Japanese government was meant to connect to Brikama’s sewage system. That plan never materialised. Septic tanks installed to handle melting ice water were misused, and the result was years of filth, stench, and health risk. Vendors endured it in silence until the press gave their frustration a platform.
The Minister for Fisheries and Water Resources acknowledged the problem and said a Japanese team had assessed the site in late 2025 and was working on engineering solutions. That process appears slow. Meanwhile, the Brikama Area Council stepped in, not because the facility is legally theirs, but because the people using it are theirs.
Lamin Singhateh, the council’s PRO, put it plainly: “The vendors and their customers are our electorate and residents of the West Coast Region.” That is the right posture. Bureaucratic boundaries should not trump public health and livelihoods. If a market is failing and people are suffering, the institution closest to the people has a duty to act, even if it means stepping outside its formal mandate. The council’s acknowledgment that the soakway is a temporary fix is also honest. It buys time while a permanent engineering solution is developed.
There are lessons here. First, journalism matters. The council itself admitted the story sparked public outcry, and “no good leader can ignore that.” Media coverage did not create the problem, but it made it unavoidable.
Inter-agency coordination must improve. The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Fisheries was reportedly informed of the council’s plan before construction began. That is a start, but Gambians should not have to rely on ad hoc interventions to fix basic sanitation in a national fish market. The Ministry, the council, and international partners need a clear, funded plan with timelines, not indefinite assessments.
Ownership and maintenance matter as much as construction. The council already stations a septic tanker at the market daily. If the new soakway is to work, misuse must be addressed and management responsibilities clarified.
The vendors’ gratitude is deserved. But praise is not a substitute for a permanent solution. The Japanese team’s engineering fix must be delivered, and it must work. Until then, the soakway is a welcome stopgap.
Brikama’s response shows that when institutions listen, act, and put people before jurisdiction, problems move. Let this be the standard, not the exception.