The Gambia Armed Forces have deployed soldiers to give support to flood victims of Tobacco Road and Primet Street of Banjul.
The soldiers’ deployment is in response to flooding in the capital city and some parts of the country caused by torrential rain that destroyed houses and food items recently.
According to the press release from the GAF office which read that “The Gambia Armed Forces (GAF) in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) on August 8, 2022 responded to a call-in line with relevant constitutional provision to offer help to flood victims in Banjul’s Tobacco Road and Primet Street. This comes on the heels of the recent flash floods caused by torrential rainfall across the country that caused amongst other things flooding in the Capital City of Banjul and other parts.”
“At the request of civil authority, personnel of One Infantry Battalion, Gaurds’ Battalion, and the Gambia Navy were at these locations filling sandbags to block certain waterways that cause flooding in some compounds. They made pavements for pedestrians and also assisted residents with filled sandbags for easy passage in and out of their compounds while water pumping machines at Bond Road were used in pumping out water out of residential areas on the above-mentioned date,” GAF added.
More so, it was noted in the press release that the units were joined by community groups and prominent business personalities who assisted in providing bags and sand. Since the flood started, GAF has been engaged in offloading relief items in the form of rice, cooking oil, and mattresses at the World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Kanifing.