The community threatened to take legal action against the government of President Adama Barrow for what it alleged as the destruction of their household properties by the flood, thanks to the poorly constructed drainage facility on the new Sukuta-Jabang highway.
In the meeting, many residents pointed out that GAMWORKS did not fulfil some of the agreements it had with the community.
These agreements include maintaining the constructed road to a double-lane from Sukuta.
Sulayman Barrow, a member of village council of elders said the failed agreement has led to current flooding experienced by the community of Jambanjelly.
“We were told by the GAMWORKS during our discussion that the designed road will include a proper drainage facility, street lights to cover the entire road including the pipe water connection into homes that are affected by the road,” he recalled.
“And one of the biggest disappointments we have experienced is the construction of a road with a single lane – something we were never told. So what we are simply demanding is an immediate solution to the flooding problem in our houses,” he added.
Abubacarr Colley, a native of the village said the community of Jambanjelly will never relent to take means of legal challenge if the drainage problem which causes flooding persists.
“We are not here to make things simple and nice. This is because for the past three years our families have been facing flood problems in their homes due the poorly constructed nature of the drainage system. So want an immediate solution to this drainage problem as we can no longer bear the challenge of risking our lives,” he warned.
Babucarr Dibba of GAMWORKS, while responding to comments, said GAMWORKS was never in a direct possession of funds for the full implementation of the said road construction, stating that funds are directly disbursed by the Finance Ministry on a budgetary term for exact implementation.
“The exact problem that people don’t know about GAMWORKS is; we only embark on road construction only based on the exact amount of funds disbursed to us by the Finance Ministry.”
“So in the case of Jambanjelly, the original road designed that we presented to the government for funding was not endorsed. That is why most of the previous designed road structures were cancelled because we also have to scale down some proposed structures which were supposed to be implemented on the road.”
“As for now what we will do is to find a temporary solution to allow the water to pass safely in order to avoid any havoc of flood in homes,” he affirmed.
