By: Nyima Sillah
Matron Tanka Tanka Psychiatric Hospital, Bakary Camara, has said the road to the hospital needs urgent rehabilitation ahead of the rainy season.
Camara explained that the problem they usually have during the rainy season is the road from the main highway to the Tanka Tanka sign board that gets inside the main gate, saying that road is a “huge” challenge as people find it difficult to access it during rainy season.
“That road is always bad even if we have our supplies from anywhere, they cannot have access to the road or hesitate to come. They always fear that when they enter inside the water they could damage their vehicles. This issue has been existing for ages and even us we struggle to get inside with our vehicles when rain starts,” Camara told The Voice in an interview on Tuesday.
He opined that the Psychiatric Hospital needed serious maintenance ahead of the rainy season as they have some rooms that leak water which affects the patients, adding that they have a lot of other damages which might cause serious challenges for them when the problem is not solved.
Camara further stated that after the inferno, they are still struggling to put the place in order as it is still not repaired, which he said is hindering the number of intakes they have daily.
When asked about the number of patients rejected, Camara said he cannot estimate the actual figure of the number of patients rejected as they were battling with the issue of capacity before the inferno, and after the inferno it made it worse, adding it was not worth keeping some of the patients.
“Looking at the forensic patients meaning the inmates now we send all of them back to mile lland they cannot come back without the place being fully maintained. We have a bunch of them in the prison which alone contributes to the issue of capacity,” Camara asserted.
He stated that since the fire incident occurred, they did not still get any support from the government, adding only an Indian philanthropist came over and was willing to help after reading the issue on social media.
“The process is supposed to start today and we appreciate it because this place needs help,” he disclosed.