Gambia: 1 July | Alkali Cham |
A Gambian business man based in Senegal, Basiru Ceesay has on Monday donated about 2900 face masks to the government of the Republic of The Gambia.
The presentation of the face masks was held in the border village of Amdalie through the assistant customs manager with a view to support the government in their strive to contain the spread of the covid-19.
It’s confirmed to this reporter that, entrepreneur Basiru Ceesay had over the past months made similar goodwill gesture to the government of Senegal which prompted his to do the same for his country of origin The Gambia.
Receiving the consignment of donated face masks, Sulayman Sawaneh deputy manager of customs security service at Amdalie boder, thanked the donor for considering his country in this trying time and expressed his gratitude for the good gesture. He added that the donated items will go a long way in the fight against the covid-19 pandemic. He challenged other young people to copy the best practice from Basiru Ceesay who reflects his mind to his country. He was however quick to state that the gesture is non partisan as the item carried the picture of the president; he said it’s meant for all irrespective of party affiliation.
In a different vain, Sulayman Sawaneh slammed the rumour that there is not much surveillance at the border which he said is a mere imagination of people. He said the official borders are under a very tight security which makes it almost impossible to allowed unauthorised travellers to access each of the countries, Gambia and Senegal. He added that as part of their surveillance measures, there are about 5 check points instituted by almost all the major security apparatus to ensure no one legally escapes the border into Gambia without the due process.
BUSINESS AT THE BORDER PARALYSE AMIDST RESTRICTION
The business activities at the border village of Amdalie which is in close proximity with a Senegalese Village of Karang for only few meters has suffered significantly as result of the government’s declared state of emergency.
Various businesses at the border are closed due to the restriction measures declared by both the Government of Senegal and Gambia as measures to avoid the spread of the invisible virus of covid-19.
Speaking to this reporter, Amadou Jallow, a business man expressed frustration on the state of business at the border; he described the situation as the worst ever condition he faced since the onset of his business. He added that due to poor sales on daily basis, he and his colleagues sometimes shut the doors of the shops at 3 pm due to lack of sales, frustration and compliance with state of public emergency.
He added that they are the hardest hit sector as no effective movement is taking place on the border.
For his part Alieu Ndure, has called on the Governments to losen some restrictive measures so that the life of business at the border can be restored. He equally called on the government of the Gambia to excuse them from tax payment as their businesses are subjected to poor sale and may eventually collapse if nothing is done.
Abucarr Jalllow also a shopkeeper, mentioned that most of their items are nearing theor expiry dates, which according to him was purchased at a high cost and getting them expired due to lack of sales will be a great lost to them. He called on the government to help them by loosening restrictions at the border in order to help them survive as of most of them are family heads.
Comments