By Landing Colley
As coronavirus pandemic cases increase in the country, the people of Deaf and Hard of Hearing have registered their annoyance over inadequate access to information on Covid-19.
The group’s complaint comes amid of a sharp rise of the cases recorded in the country, as the Gambia already registered 1,556 cases and 43 death people from the virus.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Lamin B. Sonko, a sign language interpreter said: “in The Gambia among the disabilities that we have, the deaf people find it very hard to access the information about the coronavirus and they depend on sign language.”
“There are some deaf people that can read and write but very few, however due to the educational system most of the deaf people cannot read in proper English because they don’t have a curriculum on sign language to teach the deaf people,” he added.
Mr Sonko however called on television stations and public institutions to employ sign language interpreters to help the deaf and hard of hearing people to know what is happening in the country and the wider world.
He said: “Access to information for deaf and hard of hearing people has been a challenge in The Gambia, as they depend on second hand information and second hand information sometimes drops along the line.”
He urged fellow Gambians to stay safe and always follow the restriction imposed by the government as covid-19 is real in the Gambia and is deadly.
Mr Lamin Sanko has been also updating person with disabilities (deaf and hard of hearing) on covid-19 both in the Gambia and abroad on social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp.