Prevention, it is often said, is better than cure. This means that it is better for one to do something right to prevent problems rather than waiting until there is a problem and then struggling for a solution. This actually makes a lot of sense when one thinks about it.
However, sometimes one observes that things are not done properly or in the right manner or time. That is why many a time, in spite of something being done, problems still emerge after a short time. More effort and resources are then expended to solve those problems than would have been utilised at the right time.
Take the problems of the roads and sewage system in The Gambia for instance and how much trouble they cause people and officials. When the rainy season comes there is a lot of flooding and parts of roads being washed away such that most drivers would prefer not to drive to certain areas. Citizens suffer immensely because of this.
After the rainy season, everything is forgotten and things slide back to the way they were. This should have been the time used to build or rebuild the roads and repair water ways so that when the rainy season comes the same problems will not happen again. This would have saved a lot of trouble and perhaps money as well.
The National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) is usually called out to different parts of the country when disasters strike. Millions are expended by them in giving aid to disaster victims every rainy season. It would have been wiser to spend such monies maintaining the roads and making water ways to prevent the occurrence of flooding every year.
The rainy season started just a few weeks ago but already social media is full of images of floods or roads being waterlogged such that no vehicle can drive through. Would the government and its agencies take this matter seriously and do what needs to be done at the right time?
