By: Momodou Justice Darboe
Large quantities of medicines are currently held at the Banjul International Airport (BIA), sources close to BIA informed The Voice.
Competent sources at BIA said the medicines could not be released to their importers since last month but could not say why the items were still at the airport.
According to our sources, some of the medicines were imported from the UK and US.
The items include life-saving drugs and according to sources, the refusal of the authorities to release them to their owners has been causing shortages and price hikes.
A health ministry source informed this medium that since the sackings of Markieu Janneh Kaira and Fatoumatta Jah-Sowe as director and deputy director of the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) respectively, medical items imported into the country through air, land, and sea could not still be released to their owners.
Mr. Janneh and Mrs. Jah-Sowe were fired in July as per the recommendation of the commission of inquiry instituted to investigate the deaths of over 70 Gambian children, who died from the consumption of contaminated cough syrup, imported from India.
“MCA is yet to put its house in order since the sackings of its two top directors,” another health ministry source informed The Voice.
PS at Health Ministry Muhammad Lamin Jaiteh said he had “no idea” about the issue when contacted by The Voice.
Meanwhile, the situation has been reportedly causing issues with the availability and affordability of medicines in the country.