By Sulayman Waan
Some concerned citizens have urged the Gambia government to help take measures in considering people suffering from mentally challenged that roaming and living in the street amid the rise in coronavirus cases.
In their call they want the concern authorities to evacuate them to Tankatanka Psychiatric Center or to the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) – psychiatric unit for treatment.
Speaking to The Voice in an interview, Sulayman Bah, a vendor called on the government to help people that are mentally disorder living in the street to receive treatment in the hospitals in this era of coronavirus which the country is recording increase cases almost on a daily basis.
“They (the mentally ill) are suffering a lot nowadays as they find it difficult to get food daily. In fact, they depend on abandoned ruminant foods for their survival,” he said.
According to him, some of them [mentally challenged people] do get sick with no help in the street and “In this rainy season, most of the insane often spent the night on the streets despite the cold and stagnant water all around.”
Basiru Secka, who sells coffee at Busumbala also said: “If these mentally challenged people are taken to a psychiatric hospital they would likely recover because some of them are always make sensible remarks.”
He however sympathised for the poor condition of the mentally challenged people roaming around the Busumbala market, saying those insane always stand by the road to beg for money.
Pointing to one of them he said “This man doesn’t have cloths but the one he’s wearing was given him by ‘fukangjai’ and also look at that woman (name withheld) also faces sever challenges as she always goes around particularly in this market.”
The Gambia has quite a number of mentally challenged people living in the streets without no access to medication and other basic needs of life like clean water and decent food.
