By Nicholas Bass
Fabakary Bojang, a car dealer and resident of Brikama Town wept bitterly over his house which was burnt into ashes, and as well lost cash of over D4 million to the fire outbreak which occurred at midnight on Saturday at Brikama Nyambai, West Coast Region.
Speaking at the scene in an interview, Mr. Fabakary Bojang told this reporter that over D4 million with valuable materials were lost during the fire outbreak and it has rendered him and his family destitute.
“My six living bedrooms have been destroyed by the fire completely but I thanked God, the Almighty for He gives and He takes’’.
The 68-year-old man, Fabakary Bojang, noted that he called the Brikama Fire Rescue Service on his cellphone but they declined because their vehicles were not efficient to quench the fire which prompted him to call the Serrekunda Fire Rescue Services.
He said they reached the scene late probably because of the distance. This he said rendered all his efforts to rescue his money futile plus other valuable materials from the blazing flames.
‘’I believe the National Water and Electrical Company (NaWEC) should be blamed for this fire outbreak due to their inconsistency of current on and off without informing their clients’’, he lamented.
However, he added that Serrekunda Fire Rescue Service has helped him to quench the fire which has prevented the fire from escalating beyond his building to the neighbourhood.
‘’These were indeed perilous times for my family but I received timely support from the former Dr. Isatou Touray, the former Vice President of the Gambia who gave my family six bags of rice, four gallons of oil, two bags of sugar with a large quantity of spaghetti. I am calling on NGOs, philanthropists, individuals, and the government to come to my aid in this perilous time”, Bojang pleaded.
Dembo Bojang, a witness of the incident alleged that NAWEC should take responsibility for the recent fire outbreak in the Gambia due to their inconsistency of on and off without notifying the public.
He said they should think of ways to mitigate these problems instead of blaming Landlords for bad wiring of circuits. He went on to plead to the Gambian government to supply Fire Rescue Services with quality materials that will enable them to do their work effectively.