By Sainabou Sambou
Flower vendors at Kairaba Avenue have narrated how Covid-19 pandemic affected their businesses.
Among them is Nar Samba a flower vendor stated that they didn’t have large sale since 2020 up till this moment because tourists who buy their products didn’t come due to lockdown in Europe as caused by the pandemic.
They grow different types of flowers which include rose flower, bamboo flowers and so on. He stated that some Gambians and few foreigners in The Gambia normally buy from them, too, but not in large quantity.
In term of selling, he said they do sell the flower and vast separately, while a flower vast can cost about D1000 or more and the flowers too, but depends on customers’ choice.
Pateh Bah expressed that how Covid-19 has affected their business badly while he compared the life of their work to be of the hotels “because tourists are the ones who buy from us and due to Covid-19 tourists season has closed and we are not selling like the way we used to sell.”
“We have some Gambians who buy from us “he said.
He stated that they do plant flowers seeds or stems and “some seeds of the flowers are from Europe and we normally by them around D500 or D600 depend on the varieties and we sell based on sizes, too.”
Yaya Touray shared similar views like other while he named among the various flowers they are having in gardens which include rose flower, box flower and bamboo flowers, and they don’t sell it the same price.
He disclosed that rose flowers are not many in the country and also one of the flowers enemies is a disease called fungus which does destroy their flowers, while he appealed to Ministry of Agriculture to help them with chemicals.
Nyima Njie affirmed that flower business is very slow since last year due to the pandemic because hotel owners and tourists that always buy from them are not in operation or coming to the country for now. She too also appealed to the government through Ministry of Agriculture, to help them with chemicals.
