The philanthropic arm of GACH Global, the Abubakary Jawara Foundation, on Friday reinforced KMC’s disaster response capabilities by handing over 100 bags of 50kg rice and 50 king size mattresses for immediate distribution to victims of the July floods.
Speaking at the presentation, foundation coordinator, Jainaba Secka, said Abubakary Jawara was not in town when the disaster struck last July but he was profoundly saddened by the destruction. “When we sent him a video of the mayor appealing for support for the victims, he decided to offer humanitarian assistance to the affected people upon his return,” Secka said.
She said the motivation of the donation was “purely” humanitarian as people of different political parties have been impacted by the floods.
The director of services at KMC, Lamin Badjie, expressed his gratitude to the Abubakary Jawara Foundation and promised that the items will be delivered to the beneficiaries in the “shortest possible time”.
In a statement delivered on his behalf, Chairman Abubakary Jawara said: “As usual, the Abubakary Jawara Foundation has once again promised itself to meet the needs of the victims of the rain floods in The Gambia by willingly donating rice and bed mattresses to the affected persons in the Kanifing municipality.”
According to him, the main objective of the foundation is to uplift the status and living conditions of financially disadvantaged people in the country by helping to provide their basic necessities.
“The Abubakary Jawara Foundation has been helpful and will continue to be supportive to the socio-economic development of this country out of love and mercy for people who are disadvantaged and in need of the basic necessities of life. The foundation does this in response to the hardships faced by the needy in order to improve their living standards.”
He expressed his hope that the items will help beneficiaries cope “during these trying moments”.
For his part, the mayor of KMC, Talib Bensouda, said: “Two weeks ago, I put out a video, calling for support because KMC can’t do it all. We have 14,495 flood victims who have lost bags of rice, clothing and other valuables. We cannot do it alone and this is why we rely on people like Abubakary Jawara. His contribution has now taken the disaster fund to D1million. May Allah continue to guide and bless him.”
Mayor Bensouda meanwhile announced that the items would be distributed during the weekend in fulfillment of Mr Jawara’s wish for their speedy distribution to the victims.
