The philanthropic arm of GACH Global-Abubakary Jawara Foundation-on Friday reinforced KMC’s disaster response capabilities by handing over 100 bags of 50kg rice and 50 king-sized mattresses for immediate distribution to victims of last July’s floods.
Speaking at the presentation, Coordinator of the Foundation, Jainaba Secka, said Abubakary Jawara was not in town when the disaster struck last July but he was profoundly saddened by the news of the floods. “When we sent him a video of the mayor appealing for support for the victims, he decided to offer humanitarian assistance to the affected people upon his return,” Secka said.
She said the motivation of the donation was “purely” humanitarian as people of different political parties have been impacted by the floods.
The Director of Services at KMC, Lamin Badjie, expressed gratitude to Abubakary Jawara Foundation and promised that the items would be delivered to the beneficiaries in the “shortest possible time”.
In a statement delivered on his behalf, the Chairman of Abubakary Jawara Foundation, Abubakary Jawara, said: “As usual, Abubakary Jawara’s foundation has once again promised itself to meet the needs of the victims of the rain floods in The Gambia, by willingly donating rice and bed mattresses to the affected persons in the Kanifing Municipality.”
According to him, as a registered entity, the main objective of Abubakary Jawara Foundation is to uplift the status and living conditions of financially-disadvantaged people in the country by helping to provide their basic necessities.
“The Abubakary Jawara Foundation has been so helpful and will continue to be supportive to the socio-economic development of this country at no cost but out of love and mercy for its people that are at a disadvantage of basic life necessities. The foundation does this in response to the hardships faced by the needy in order to improve on their living standards.”
He expressed hope that the items would help beneficiaries cope “during these trying moments”.
He finally thanked the KMC mayor and staff for their effort to the success of the presentation of the items.
For his part, the mayor of KMC, Talib Ahmad Bensouda, said: “Two weeks ago, I put out a video calling for support because KMC can’t do it all. We have 14,495 flood victims who have lost bags of rice, clothing and other valuables. We cannot do it alone and this is why we rely on people like Abubakary Jawara. His contribution has now taken the disaster fund to D1m. May Allah continue to guide and bless him.”
Mayor Bensouda meanwhile announced that the items would be distributed during the course of the weekend in fulfillment of Mr Jawara’s wish for their speedy distribution to the victims.
He revealed that the relief items handed over to his council by Abubakary Jawara Foundation on Friday has now raised the KMC disaster fund to D1M.