By: Nyima Sillah
Sherrifo Sonko, a Concern Citizen, has appealed to the government to reconsider its stance over the decision made on the worshipping places amid of the spread of covid-19.
Sherrifo Sonko in an interview said the decision made on closing the worshipping places is not an easy decision, thus, the government wants to save the lives of the citizens from the virus.
He stated that the government reconsidered opening of business places after when they complained of their daily feeding, the same thing should be done on worshipping places.
According to him, if daily congregation cannot be done in the worshipping places, weekly congregations can be observed with advice on social distancing if not inside the worshipping rooms, but in an open environment.
“If commercial vehicles and ferries could scale down their capacity and still we don’t have any domestic cases or internal transmitted cases, worshipping places can also be advised to scale down their capacity in order to minimise the risk”, he said.
In addition to that he said places that take 50 people could scale down to 20 or less and religious leaders should also shorten the praying time to avoid keeping together for a long period of time.
Meanwhile, he said MoH and civil society organizations can also continue on their sensitization programs and make sure that people understand the observance of social distancing.
Sonko urged police and soldiers to adjust their capacity on border patrol, noting that religious worshipping place committee members should also keep cleaning their places of worship after every weekly congregational prayer. “A country without congregational prayers for 30 days is another side of the story for those who don’t believe in congregational prayers”, he added.
“I therefore appeal to the government of The Gambia to engage religious leaders on the reconsideration of the decision”
Sherrifo also expressed his delightfulness on people that are helping the needy during this hard time, including frontline workers, volunteers and public servants working to fight Covid-19 pandemic in The Gambia