By Aisha Tamba
The Chinese Embassy in The Gambia on Monday donated D570, 000 and 40 sewing machines to the Kanifing Municipal Council at a ceremony held at the Embassy premises.
The money was meant for supporting disaster victims within the Kanifing Municipality, while the sewing machine gesture was aimed at empowering the youth of the municipality.
In his presentation, His Excellency Liu Jin, Chinese Ambassador to The Gambia, expressed delight in receiving the mayor and his team at the Embassy.
He said the Chinese Embassy is open to all and sundry and described The Gambia and the People’s Republic of China as good friends and reliable partners, with trust and confidence in each other.
“I am happy to donate the cash and sewing machines to the Kanifing Municipality and I believe it would be of good use to the beneficiaries through the mayor’s efforts. We both agree to exchange the cooperation between the local authorities of the two countries, and there would be mutual understanding and promote the mutual friendship between the people of the two countries,” Ambassador Jin said.
Receiving the gesture, Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda, said the Chinese Embassy is the first diplomatic mission to respond to their call for the municipality’s flood victims following the 31st July massive flood that badly affected over 14, 000 households and 100, 000 people in the communities.
Mayor Bensouda said the gesture aims to support the flood victims as well as empower youth within the municipality.
“The Chinese Embassy has always been here to see the relationship between the people of The Gambia and the People’s Republic of China is very strong and with growth,” he said.
Mayor Bensouda further revealed that KMC has seen many similarities with the Chinese Embassy that will help them grow as a country and as a municipality, while the Kanifing Municipality is looking forward to seeing how it can partner with other Chinese cities to enhance mutual development.
“We appreciate the kind gesture and we are looking for all types of support such as food, blankets, and clothing among others. We wrote to many partners, but the Chinese Embassy is the first diplomatic body to actually respond to our call for aid which we definitely did not expect,” he added.
