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.

Joint Security Task Force At Amdalie Arrested Armed Robbery Suspects

By Ousman A. Marong

A joint security task force comprising of security officers from The Gambia and Senegal at the Gambian border town of Amadalie linking Senegal through Karang have on Sunday arrested seven suspects in connection with the recent armed robbery  in Farafenni.

The armed robbers invaded a patrol station and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) in Farafenni and went away with huge sum of money.

Armed robbery is the order of the day in present day Gambia, which is causing apparent panic among the business sectors in the country.

It could be recall that in February armed robbers looted a shop in Sandu and seriously injured one Seedy Muktar, a Mauritanian businessman believed to be the owner of the shop. 

A similar incident occurred in Bertez, Serrekunda where one Sulayman Jammeh’s mobile shop was also looted and mobs went away with D25, 775.00  ( Twenty five thousand seven hundred and seventy five dalasis).

Business persons who spoke to this reporter lamented that rampant robberies have caused panic within the business community, saying these robbers only target business people and their properties.

They urged the government to strengthen the security sector to address the menace.

Public Relations Officer of the Gambia Police, David Kujabi disclosed: “The men were arrested and the police investigation teams are expanding their tentacles in looking into the matter thoroughly.”

He said the men arrested are suspects in connection with the armed robbery case in Farafenni, but quick to add that they are yet to confirm if these men were the real culprits behind the mugging, “as we are still mounting on our investigation.”

Asked whether the men were in possession of any guns, he the spokesperson of the Gambia cops noted that he could not elaborate much on that owing to security reasons.

                                       picture of the Police PRO David Kujabi (photo credit) Ousman A. Marong.