The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Suwareh Kunda
2 July 2009
(Page 2 of 2)
According to Yoro, drivers dreaded that route so much so that they never wanted to venture on it, not even when their own wives where in labour. "All this is now history," the old man said with delight. He went on to say that a reinforced accessibility and affordability of educational opportunities have rescued him and his children who otherwise would have been with their herds by now, and that for this, he and his family remain indebted to President Jammeh.
Yoro believes he and his sons would have been with their herds by now if President Jammeh had not provided them with educational opportunities. Many smaller settlements have benefited from similar developments which have changed the lives of the people.
Challa
In the village of Challa, for instance, there are superb teachers' quarters, built as part of government's drive to provide incentives for the retention of teachers in far-off places, ensuring educational opportunities for previously deprived communities within such areas. And a few kilometres away is a village called Sarakunda, which is in fact off the road.
Sarakunda has a minor health center. Inaugurated in 2006, the center is equipped with machines and a clearly, well motivated staff that serve the many communities within an area whose people had to trek kilometres in search of medical facilities before the coming of the APRC government. It has six admission beds, and a brand new ambulance, among others. According to Lamin S Jammeh, the nurse in charge, apart from admission of patients, they provide several services in the health center.
Sinchu Njabo
At Sinchu Njabo, there are beautifully built staff quarters for the basic cycle school. Sharing their views to the Daily Observer about the impact of these quarters, some of the teachers pointed at comfort as well as motivation in terms of unity that being together and closer has brought them. This, in turn, has enhanced teaching in terms of preparation or being able to prepare lesson plans.
According to Baboucarr Ndong, a teacher in the school, the structures for the teachers are a great motivation. "Had it been that there where no quarters for teachers, we would find it very difficult to cope with the situation, especially in terms of conformability," Ndong said. "Before, we were staying in the neighboring villages, commuting to school every day, which was very difficult. But now, since the intervention of government with the establishment of quarters for the teachers, we are no longer suffering."
Ndong expressed delight with the present government and suggested that to keep teachers in the field, such structures should be maintained. According to his colleague, Lala B Sabally, a female teacher, the structure alone is a great motivation for the teachers. She said that it has made them to stay together as one family. According to her, the difficulties "we were facing have greatly been reduced since the establishment of these quarters. During weekends, we stay in the quarters comfortably and prepare our lessons." Many other settlements like pre-July 1994 Salikenni existed in the NBR, and like the people of Salikenni, those of the other villages have had their lives transformed immensely from uncertainty to total optimism.
Farafenni
For a town as important as Farafenni, being the largest in the entire NBR and the second biggest in the entire country, it was a shame that its people had to depend quite a lot on neighbouring countries for basic services like electricity, not to mention the deplorable nature of the road then. This was a situation the AFPRC/APRC government under Yahya Jammeh was quick to realise, and from the beginning, it set itself the task of making the people of Farafenni feel part of The Gambia, to which they actually belong.
Today, the town boasts of one of the most beautiful, sophisticated, standard and equipped hospitals in the region. The AFPRC General Hospital, the second largest in the country after the RVTH, was built as a result of a health sector reform program guided by the statement of the health policy from 1994 to 2002. The sole aim was to improve access and quality of health care, especially for the rural people who found it hard to access the limited services provided by the country's then insufficient health services. The hospital is a two hundred and fifty beds ultra modern tertiary hospital which serves not only the Gambian population, but neighbouring countries such as Senegal, Guinea, Mali etc. as well. The hospital, which commenced operationd in January 1999, has 18 key units, providing some of the most important and critical medical services, hence its popularity beyond the frontiers of the country.
The AFPRC General Hospital serves as a referral facility for the many health centres and clinics dotted around the entire North Bank Region and beyond. For instance, statistical records show a yearly average outpatients turnout of over 32,000 people. Going by the record of cases reported at the hospital, the establishment of the facility is long overdue. A now reliable electricity and pipe-borne water supply system add life to the uplifting status of a town that was said to be going gradually down the drain before being rescued by the new dispensation.
Thanks to the Rural Electrification Project Phase I, the brainchild of the Gambian leader, President Yahya Jammeh, the town now has a new and reliable power supply system, supplying electricity to about seven other settlements in the Lower River Region, in addition to the general services it provides to the rest of the NBR. Today, life in Farafenni is no different from life in Banjul. Today, many businesses that had collapsed as a result of unavailability of electricity are proliferating in the town. These include welding and other forms of metal works, ice selling for the many petty traders, etc.
"We are very much grateful to President Jammeh for taking us out of what had been a persistent dilemma of an almost nonexistent electricity supply," stated Alhagie Ceesay, a canteen owner at the fish market. In the account of Ceesay, previously they got ice blocks from nearby border villages in Senegal, which cost them a lot in terms of time and effortand money. "But today, we have enough for ourselves," he said.This fish market was built by the Gambian leader shortly after assuming the mantle of leadership of the county, in the early days of the Revolution. And today, it forms a key part of the lives of thousands of people in the area.
Mamadi Janka, who owns a welding station in Faraenni, is a living testimony of how electricity has greatly helped transform the nature of business in places like Farafenni. According to him, the coming of the Rural Electrification Project has rescued them from the hitherto erratic nature of the electricity supply. "Because of the confidence in the reliability of electricity supply," Janka said, "we get so many major contracts. But before, we were not able to get such because there was no electricity and we were depending on our colleagues across the border. All we could do on securing contracts; was to in turn sub-contract them to others on the other side of the border."
But today, according to Janka, the situation is the reverse. "Our foreign colleagues come to us now for certain jobs. It is different now," he revealed. In essence Farafenni serves as the capital of the North Bank Region, providing every need of the people throughout the region. Every sector of the society has a reason to celebrate, and all the people who spoke to the Daily Observer endeavoured to relay this message straight and clearly.
The youths have not been left behind. Farafenni houses one of the mini stadiums built by government as part of its effort to decentralise social amenities in the country. Today, the town is fit enough to host any kind of youth programme in the country. Today, the Observer July 22nd Bus crew will spend the night in Farafenni. Tomorrow, the bus proceeds to CRR.
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