VOX POP On COVID-19: Market Vendors Decry Stand- Still On The Business Sector Amidst Coronavirus Outbreak

Photo: Ali Wally

 By Ousman A. Marong

The widely discussed COVID-19 known by many as Coronavirus made its way to the tiny West African country (The Gambia) through a UK based Gambian in her mid-20s, who visited the country on 14^th March 2020 and was tested positive of the disease.

The roaming reporter was out and about to gauge the opinion of the businesspeople amidst the COVID-19 outbreak.

Ali Wally, a market vendor at the busy Serrekunda market said the fear of COVID-19 and the rapid spread of the virus is taking the world at random.

“Market has never been boring in The Gambia like this. People have found it very difficult to move around especially around the market areas since the outbreak of the Novel COVID-19. We do not have a lot of budgets and we don’t have a lot of revenue. Since I cannot stay indoors for a month I have to go and look for something to sustain me,” said Ali Wally.

He observed that nobody in the county can stay indoors for a full day without looking for means of survival. He queried why Gambians never take things seriously unless it starts to harm.

He quoted a saying from the Prophet Muhammed (SAW): “Do not leave a country in which there is a disease or calamity and also those who are there should also remain in.” He urged all and sundry to take all preventive measures and to remain hygiene.

“The sky-rocketing prices of commodities are due to the fact The Gambia does not produce anything and had to depend on import products. When there is nothing coming in, of course, businessmen and women will increase the prices of commodities to table the scale of preference,” he highlighted.

Bafoday Touray, on his part stated that business is all about customers, adding that people are not coming to buy as usual since the outbreak.

                                  
“You can sit here for about three to four hours without receiving any customer. The news about the outbreak is causing a lot of panics.”

He urged all and sundry to listen to health experts and heed to their advice.

Photo: Louis Gospel

Louis Gospel, a Nigerian businessmen residing in the country described the condition in the country as very serious and stressful.

“Nobody can enjoy the system. The way the business is going in The Gambia is not good. The government must find a solution to end the virus. Our children are no more going to school. Everywhere is closed, it’s the school who should give us the education and if the government shuts them down where are we heading now?” he asked.

He added: “We've been experiencing a lot of sickness such as HIV and AIDS, swine flu, Etc and by the grace of God we have conquered them all.  All these viruses come and go. When Hiv/AIDS and Ebola came, we panicked and now we have forgotten about them,” he concluded.