By Yusupha Jobe
Bewildered by the deepening water scarcity, the villagers of Ndungu Kebbeh in North Bank Region of The Gambia have expressed their total frustrations over what is evidently, a water crisis beyond the control of the village dwellers.
The situation started few months ago, but at the moment, it’s worsened significantly as women in the said settlement have to trek some distances before they could get freshwater from the ancient unused wells.
All the public standpipes had not been functioning for awhile now, making the situation so unbearable for the women, school teachers, students and most especially, housewives.
Speaking to this reporter, Foli Jallow revealed that her fellow women in the village are in severe pain due to the long-drawn water crisis that hit the village…
A sad case in point she cited is that, in order to access freshwater, “one needs to wake up as early as 5am in order to get freshwater from the wells; without it you will not get fresh early morning water for your domestic chores”.
Through this medium, Madam Jallow passionately entreated government to immediately come to their aid as the “situation is going out of control”.
Also adding her voice, Madam Ya Burry Faye, a middle-aged woman lamented the current water shortage in the village as “so painful and stressful”. She sadly remarked that even to get water to take a bath is so hard at the moment.
Madam Faye also echoed the need for urgent intervention by the government of President Adama Barrow and philanthropists in the country and beyond.
Mr. Assan Jallow, speaking to Mansa Banko Online also expounded on the undesirable water situation in Ndungu Kebbeh village. He described it as unfortunate, reasoning “because all the gardening activities of the school and other laboratory experiments are seriously hindered by the present water shortage” that the village is grappling with, at the moment.
Assan also pointed the finger of blame at their Ward Councillor and the current National Assembly Member of the area.
For his part, Mr. Bai Ebou Njie, a member of the Village’s Water Committee informed this medium that there is now breakdown of the machines or the solar, but he claimed the water shortage “is due to the inadequate sunlight”.
Njie, however, indicated their future plans geared towards arresting the frequent water crisis in their village.
Meantime, he kindly urged the villagers to understand the situation, as he equally apologized for the horrible water shortage the Ndungu Kebbeh villagers are facing.
In rounding off, the Committee official applauded this reporter for the interview, and also seeking clarifications before any publication on the matter.
