Several compounds and food items belonging to both individuals and families were all affected by the flooding as a result of the poorly constructed drainage of the new Sukuta-Jabang Highway. The situation has also caused anger among community of Jambanjelly to the point of threatening legal action against government.
According to the community, creating a temporary water way will prevent flooding of their compounds.
Kawsu Bojang, a community activist, said they have decided to take up the community initiative to avoid flooding in the community.
“I do not think we have to wait for the government to save our own lives. This is why we have decided to embark on putting temporary water ways that would allow easy flow of water to avoid the repeat of floods due to the poor construction of the drainage system.”
“Our hopes are to see it work properly as we anticipate more rains. So as of now, we cannot inform you about its sustainability until there is another downpour,” he said.
Pa Amadou Samba, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Village Development Committee (VDC), said the nature of the work was the filling of empty sacks with sand and put it against compounds to prevent the flow of water into individuals’ compounds.
“What we have done is to fill empty sacks with sand and put them against most vulnerable houses to prevent water from passing through in their compounds. This, I believe will reduce any potential flooding.”
“Again we also removed blockages on culverts which normally prevent access flow of water into the drainage, which we complained to the engineers during the time of construction,” he said.
