By Mustapha Jarju
Residents of Busumballa Madina have lamented about the condition of the community road as they transport their patients to hospitals and health centre with wheelbarrows.
They called on the government to help address the bad condition of the roads in the community and other parts of the country.
Yaya Samura, Alkalo of Busumballa Madina Community blamed Brikama Area Council over the dilapidated condition of the roads saying “the council has forgotten us. When they are successful in quest of their interest they forget us.”
“Last year they collected D500 from each of the compound in the community to buy gravels. They put the gravels on three different roads but that didn’t improve the condition of the roads in the community,” he lamented.
But he said this years some women group come together to work on the community roads, this he expressed gratitude to the women efforts for their mutual understanding among them.
He disclosed that both “pregnant women and sick people in the community used to suffer a lot before they get to the hospital due to the bad condition of the roads.”
“We have approached the Government departments on several occasions because we have people here who are responsible to take charge of the issue of writing to departments and philanthropists. So we wrote several times to the government but we are yet to benefit any support from the government. The money that we gathered among ourselves we took it to the Brikama Area Council and they brought us some trips of gravel which didn’t last or yield good result.” he added.
Awa Touray, a resident of Busumballa Madina said: “lack of good road is a big challenge to this community, I have a sick person in my house sometime back I cannot carry the person on my head to hospital because there is no vehicle that can drive on any of this roads to convey my patient to hospital. All I can do was to use wheelbarrow to drop him at the main road, and that was at the dry season and during rainy season you will not even see any vehicle that will help you.”
To make the situation worst, she said there is no health centre within the community saying in the past they contributed some money to build hospital in the community but it is no more functioning due to lack of health workers.
She went on that their children also struggle to get to school as they have to cover some distances before reaching school in Farato or other schools within Busumballa.