“In certain parts of the West Coast Region, for example, water is coming all the way from Casamance, and then emptying into places like Sifoe and other areas before going directly into the river or the ocean,” Minister Sillah said attributing flooding on the newly constructed roads following the first rains of the season.
However, a geology expert disagrees with Minister Sillah’s assertion and told The Point that the Minister is mixing apples with oranges.
“The Minister is mixing two things up. When rain falls, there is something called catchment areas, which is where water flows. Yes, it is true that there is water that comes from Casamance that enters the River Gambia which is normal. But the river is not what is causing the flooding,” the expert disagreed with Minister Sillah.
The geology expert further said that the river has not emptied the banks and it has not overflowed. He said the flooding is naturally the rain that falls and does not have anywhere to go. He said it takes time before it empties because water finds levels.
“So the water flows from where the rain falls to the river, it passes through the Kotu Streams and the Kotu Streams also empty it into the Ocean. That has nothing to do with the water that comes from Casamance to the River Gambia. That would have been river flooding but we are not having river flooding,” he said.
The geology expert said that what the country is experiencing is urban flooding. He said in urban flooding, the biggest issue is densification.
“We are concreting more and more areas naturally that is where the water should pass through and sink into the groundwater. We are also blocking the root of the water flow. And the other cause of the flooding is inadequate drainage systems and rain intensity. These are the things causing the flooding but what he (Minister Sillah) is saying is called river flooding and the river has not flooded in urban areas. That is a different thing,” he said.
The environmental experts said The Gambia’s worsening flood crisis is driven by climate change, decades of poor urban planning, and inadequate drainage systems.
