The call was made recently amid increasing dissatisfaction by some vendors at the market over its poor state.
From indiscriminate waste dumping to poor drainage system, many vendors bemoaned what could pose significant threats to their health and wellbeing, while making the market almost inaccessible.
In an interview with The Point, Binta Touray, a vendor, expressed her dissatisfaction with the current state of the market, saying the unhygienic condition of the market with stagnant water everywhere, also contributes to their losses, as most customers are reluctant to enter the market over its poor state.
She bemoaned the issue, which she said, has posed a huge loss to her, as sometimes she would be in the market for almost a half day without good earnings. This, she said, is indeed frustrating as a family woman, who feeds from hand to mouth.
“I always come to this market with fear of getting injured because of holes, as I sometimes find it difficult to locate where these holes are due stagnant water. Even our market toilets are inaccessible even though we are paying duties to Brikama Area Council every day but we are still facing these challenges.”
She thus called on government to intervene and support in addressing those challenges they are facing.
Mariama Ceesay, another vendor expressed similar sentiments. For her, she feared contracting skin diseases, saying they used stones to put their feet on in order to avoid being in the dirty water for long.
She revealed that council collects garbage, but ‘if they get more adequate equipment and machines it’ that would not only effectively boost the hygienic condition of the market, but would contribute to the health and wellbeing of the market vendors.
Another vendor, Rohey Faye, while expressing her dissatisfaction with the current government, recalled that the former president, Yahya Jammeh used to make surprise visits to some of the country’s market to ascertain the condition of women vendors, to know the conditions of the market, where women spend almost the day. However, the incumbent never knows the state of the market and they have been long crying for salvation from dirt.
Reacting to these claims, Lamin Singhateh, Public Relations Officer of Brikama Area Council, revealed that in their efforts to mitigate the situation of poor drainage system when it rains, they normally deployed their Safety Machine and water pumping machine that was given to them by the WAKA project.
“These are the two machines we use as emergency response to drain the water logged within the market."
The Council, he added, visits the market daily to ensure that the condition gets better, particularly when it rains at night.
Singhateh noted that immediately after the rain, the following morning they deploy these machines to drain the water logged within the Brikama Market.
