From Kerr Galo to Sarah Mailai, the stories are strikingly similar: women giving birth on donkey carts, farmers unable to move produce, families paying for hospital tickets only to buy medicine outside, and communities left in darkness without electricity, schools, or clean water.
The government insists it is responding with new health posts, ambulances, and a national policy to ensure no Gambian lives more than three kilometres from a health facility. But for many villagers, the promises have yet to reach their doorsteps.
Mariama Bah of Kerr Galo, a border village near Senegal, says poor roads define daily life. “Our roads are not good. When it rains, vehicles cannot use them. Even in the dry season, donkey carts are our main transport,” she explained. Farmers struggle to move crops, and pregnant women face lifethreatening journeys to Badibu Illiasa Hospital.
Bah believes improved roads would not only ease access to healthcare but also boost crossborder trade.
Childbirth on a Donkey Cart
In Drujidoyah, Badibu Illiasa District, Isatou Bah recalled how her daughterinlaw nearly gave birth en route to hospital. “She delivered just five minutes after arrival. This happened because we don’t have a good road,” she said.
In the Central River Region, residents complain of high costs and medicine shortages.
Mariama Bah of Kerr Maila said: “We pay D100 for tickets, but there is no medicine. We buy it at the pharmacy, which is very expensive.”
Awa Jallow of Kerr Malick added: “We have a road but no electricity, no hospital, no school, and no clean drinking water. At night thieves come because our community is dark.”
Wurry Bah of Sarah Mailai said villagers have appealed to successive governments without success: “We begged the two former presidents to construct roads. Now we are appealing to President Barrow.”
Government Response
Health Minister Dr Ahmadou Lamin Samateh said six new health posts are under construction, each with an ambulance.
“The government plans that no person travels more than three kilometres to reach a health facility. Very soon you will see health facilities everywhere with a good ambulance network,” he said.
On medicine shortages, Dr Samateh acknowledged import challenges but insisted facilities are not empty. He cited ongoing procurement and the construction of a new Central Medical Stores in Kotu with Global Fund support.
“Health services in The Gambia are highly subsidised. Service fees here are the cheapest in Africa,” he said, noting that patients from Senegal’s Casamance region cross the border for treatment.
