By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT
I first meet Governor Abba Sanyang of Central River Region (CRR) at a rural sensitisation tour on Security Sector Reform three weeks ago. During the sensitisation event which took place at his residence in Jangjangburreh, on Tuesday 17th March 2020, Governor Sanyang informed local community leaders and security chiefs from his constituents on how to avoid being infected with the virus.
During breakfast and lunch breaks I noticed a significant number of medical personnel at the Governor’s residence indicating that he was planning ahead for the Corona Virus. There was also a cleaning regime being put in place to ensure delegates washed their hands. I decided to engage the Governer on how plans for getting his constituent prepared for Covid 19 were progressing. Below is a transcript of an interview conducted today via telephone with Hon. Abba Sanyang, Governor of CRR.
“We are imploring people to support because the rural people are poor people. It takes most people a long while to remember that there are people who are very far away from any access to anything. No infrastructure, no communications, no roads.” – Governor Abba Sanyang
Yusef Taylor, Gainako Editor: The last time I meet you at your residence on the 17th of March 2020 you were preparing for the Covid 19 Pandemic, how is that going?
Hon. Abba Sanyang, CRR Governor: We started our preparations before the state public declaration [the evening of 17th March 2020]. We called all our stakeholders into an emergency meeting to sit down and brainstorm on the current issue that is affecting the whole world and the Gambia can’t be an exception. More so our region which is so remote.
That gave us the opportunity to have the key stakeholders to come on board like health, the security and the other authorities in the whole technical advisory systems. We were able to come up with solutions that were put in place and thank God the State declared most of the proclamations made in our resolutions. Like the closure of the Lumos, the markets, movement of people, limitation of crowds and other festivities. Second to that, we were able to get a few hands from different corners in maintaining the health hygiene in the respective places.
YT: How are the measures to contain the virus affecting people’s lives?
H.AS: We actually can’t say we know this is going to be the impact of shutting down the Lumos “local markets”. Most people who go to Lumos live from hand to mouth, in other words, their daily gain meets their daily needs. Invariably, knowing that to be the case it will have an effect on some families.
YT: What kind of support are you currently getting from Central Government?
H.AS: That’s the current meeting we are even conducting now at my office [Sunday around 3 pm]. We continuously do this meeting to see and know how far we can go with Government to solicit support. Basically, in preparing for Covid 19, I think it is very important to equip the health facilities. In rural Gambia, the most prominent health care facility we have is Bansang General Hospital.
Banasang Hospital is very very much ill-equipped in readiness for Covid 19. Basically we cannot say we have the support from Government but we have the support of individuals and agencies like the NDMA, National Disaster Management Agency. We have the support of these agencies and also the individual youth groups, like the YEP (Youth Empowerment Project), the Tekki Fi project and the regional Youth Coordinator that is Omar Jammeh and others, they are doing quite a great job.
So basically, these are the type of support we have. Besides that, I don’t know of any other support besides individual youth groups, individual families or individual organisations that are trying to support their various districts and various communities. That has been forthcoming.
YT: What is your reaction to the 45 days extension of the State of Emergency? Is it something that your constituents are welcoming or not?
H.AS: The problem is people need to understand what is meant by the statement having a lockdown for 45 days and what’s the objective of it. In the Gambia, it is very important for us to be aware that controlling the public and managing the public is one of the most difficult components. May God forbid an outbreak of Corona in this country can raise havoc, trust me. 45 days, yes, it’s important but how far do we go on implementing what is required in a state of emergency? It’s difficult because [social] distancing is not greatly followed. Groupings, children are not going to school they are now grouping and playing football and they are sending security to disperse them. There are a lot of things that need to be done.
When the Lumos are closed those who go to the Lumos end up now going to the markets, the daily markets particularly in like Bansang, Wassu, Brikama Ba etc. We set up a program for the markets too we said we going to open from 7 O’clock until 1 pm and all other non-essential food shops are closed down that is to control the crowd and to reduce the influx of people in the markets. That’s one of the main strategies we are applying.
We are imploring people to support because the rural people are poor people. It takes most people a long while to remember that there are people who are very far away from any access to anything. No infrastructure, no communications, no roads. People tend to forget their existence and this is a problem in many forms. CRR is one of the productive units in this country. Its population are predominantly agriculturist, that’s what they’re blessed with, the land. Supporting those people is supporting yourself, indirectly.
YT: Are people still congregating at large gatherings like the usual Friday prayers?
H.AS: No, I think the only problem am encountering here in terms of gatherings is the youths at football fields. That is my problem. I am trying to send out signals and meetings and using the only possible means of sensitisation right now the radio to sensitise the youths to stay at home and avoid groupings. I think that is the main problem we are encountering so far.
I want to solicit support from anywhere possible, in terms of food, in terms of logistics, equipment for the hospitals, other quarantine canters just to make the region well equipped and prepared for Covid 19. In the meantime, we thank God our sensitisation is going down to the grassroots. We try to regroup ourselves every other day in terms of what is happening. Thank God we don’t have any cases of Corona Virus. All the suspected cases have been negative.
“The borders are porous, assisting the communities to be able to enhance the patrol teams 24/7 will be a big tool in manging the borders. Or else it’s important to note that the borders are very porous and we have a short distance to enter CRR from Senegal.” CRR Governor Abba Sanyang