The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Omar Sey has heaped praise on the Indian community for the donation of D865, 000 as part of their contribution towards the combat against Ebola. He said of the humanitarian overture:
“This will go a long way in helping the country in its fight against Ebola. Apart from the president of the republic, Ministry ofTourism and Culture, and WHO you are the first business community to make donation towards prevention of Ebola. We will encourage and work with you as partners. With this contribution, you have demonstrated your love for this country. The government is doing all it can to prevent Ebola from spreading to The Gambia”.
The permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health Dr Macky Taal said: “The fight against Ebola is the business of all, not only the government alone as its affects businesses, and human population. The economic losses caused by Ebola are unprecedented. We want the trend to reverse as soon as possible. Be rest assured that the ministry is doing everything possible to assure the world that The Gambia is Ebola free, and we will maintain the status quo so that nothing negative happens to the country. The Ebola outbreak we are experiencing in the West African region is a very dreadful situation that we are witnessing. Everybody is aware of Ebola, it is a disease that is currently out of control and difficult to contain as we can all hear from the media the devastating consequences of this virus especially on the human lives and the economic cost to the region.
The situation we are faced with in the West African region is a state of emergency in terms of Ebola viral disease. A Lot of resources are required technical and financial so that we can contain this disease. For The Gambia, we have been doing a lot in terms of resource mobilisation, sensitisation campaigns, equipments and protective gears, which is among the most important things in the fight against Ebola. We have been screening people in and out of the country to ensure that they do not carry the Ebola virus when entering the country. This effort is geared towards protecting people from Ebola. Unfortunately, no matter the resources we have, we still required a lot more resources. The equipment we are buying is very expensive coupled with sensitisation programs. That is why your gesture today is timely; we thank you for the donation of the money. It will go a long way in our preparedness plan. Let me assure you the money will be used for response plans. This is not surprising coming from the Indian community. A few years ago the same community opened a clinic in Brusubi area which is nonprofit; serving the community virtually at no cost. We know that the Indian community are our brothers and partners”.
Speaking on behalf of the Indian business Community in The Gambia, Suresh Wadhwani said: “The donation is a contribution from 22 Indian businesses in The Gambia to bolster the government’s mammoth efforts to contain this dangerous threat that is virtually close to our doorstep. Awareness is key to containing this terrible virus. We hope our little gesture will help create more awareness .I thank president Jammeh and his government for creating the enabling environment in which we operate”.
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