By Mariam Williams
Food items worth over D1,000,000 (One million dalasis) were on Friday distributed to needy Gambians across the country, at a distribution ceremony held at Kanifing.
The aim of the donation by a philanthropist from Qatar, is to alleviate hardships that needy families are going through as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking on behalf of the facilitator, Mr. Sillah Conateh, disclosed that through the facilitation of Alhagie Alieu Jarju, a Qatari philanthropist by the name Mohamed Al-Noimi, has recently distributed food items worth over 1 million dalasis in the Gambia.
According to him, Jarju had been collaborating with Al-Noimi since 2004 to carry out similar humanitarian gestures across the Gambia. He stated that, their main intervention are in the area of building Masjid, Qur’anic memorization centres and distribution of food items.
The targeted communities for these gestures were mainly Salikenni and Jammeh kunda in North Bank Region (NBR); however, due to COVID-19 pandemic, Conateh explained that this recent gesture had been extended to other parts of the country, especially West Coast Region. He thanked the Gambian Embassy in Qatar for their significant assistance in facilitating the transfer of funds from Qatar to the Gambia, to facilitate this intervention.
Conateh further said they prayed that Allah continue to bless all those who play their individual and collective roles in facilitating the donation both in the Gambia and Qatar. He indicated also that Mohamed Al-Noimi has been a benevolent friend of the Gambia, offering assistance to lives and livelihoods of a good number of households.
He remarked: “We pray that Allah continue to grant him the hands and heart to continue extending assistance to the needy, and accept his good intentions and needs for him in the day of reckoning”.
Mr. Alieu Jarju, who facilitated the gesture, commended the Gambia Government for taking a bold step in protecting it citizens and the Gambia, at large; while hoping that the food items would really help the beneficiaries.
Mr. Lamin Fofana, a beneficiary, thanked Jarju and the team for supporting them, describing Alieu as “a kind of person” who always share every small thing he had, with his fellow human being. He noted that Jarju has been doing such donation for a long time.
