By Binta Jaiteh
Yaya Menteng Samyang, a lawmaker for Latrikunda Sabiji has assured the assembly’s readiness and commitment to bring justice to the victims of the sixty-nine children who died of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) as a result of contaminated syrups imported from India.
In an interview, he stressed that the matter will be addressed by the National Assembly and will soon call for an extraordinary session to summon all the relevant stakeholders for a frank conversation to dig into the matter and devise a way forward.
He noted: “We are parliamentarians, and the core part of our mandate is to represent the Gambian people for the interest of the nation. With just a little bit of patience, parliament will do what is expected of them, though it is a process and we will reach the bottom of the issue by all means.”
According to him, the health minister is very careful of his actions and words but challenged the minister to take responsibility to answer all the questions with sincerity when he appears before the assembly for questioning.
“The parents must demand justice at the same time. In my capacity I will strongly urge the government to compensate every family that has lost a child and also airlift all other kids that are affected by this deadly disease to any country that has sophisticated healthcare systems to save the lives of these kids,” he declared.
During the Extraordinary session. I am sure NAMS will ask the Minister to give detailed data on the specific number of children that died and how many more are affected and the steps to be taken for these killer drugs to be controlled, he stressed.