By Bakary Touray Jr
Hon. Omar Ceesay, the National Assembly Member for Niamina East, has called for timeline for the implementation of the preventive measures of COVID-19, as recommended by the Legislative Committee on Health.
Ceesay said this at the Legislature during the recent debate on the committee’s report on the just-concluded visit to entry points, to assess the level of preparedness in preventing COVID-19 in the country.
“The issue at hand is very critical and the magnitude, in which the virus is moving from one geographical area to another, is rapid. As a result, there is the need for everyone to take timely recommendations,” urged the Niamina East NAM.
He informed that the committee has developed substantial recommendations, adding: “My view is that there should be a timeline or period for the implementation of the recommendations.This will help in making follow-up to know the level of implementation of the recommendations”.
Hon. Ceesay believed that would also help them to achieve the purpose of which they{Committee} have been developed.
“I would want to suggest that when we are making recommendations, we stipulate the time bound for which they should be implemented”. He had decried that one public health officer was not sufficient for the Giboro Border Post, considering the population density and busy nature of the settlement. Thus, he suggested that the public health workers be increased to the required number of health workers to ensure effective service delivery to the residents.
He commented: “The way COVID-19 transfers from one person to another is sensitive. There is the need to better analyze the situation at hand and consider providing health officials at the borders to do the effective screenings aside from the border closure”.
Ceesay also reiterated the need to effectively sensitize the general public, especially the provincial Gambia, on the dangers of coronavirus and its protective measures so that they could help themselves in preventing the disease. He implored on the Ministries of Health, Foreign Affairs and Finance, to work together and consider Gambians in the diaspora to monitor and consider them in the preventive efforts of the government.
This, as Hon. Ceesay reasoned, is because they (diasporans) are Gambian citizens who might come to the country, but if they are affected, and come to the country, that could make the country vulnerable to the disease.
