By Amadou Jadama
A team of Turkish engineers has arrived in the country Sunday for visits to flood prone areas in West Coast Region and Kanifing Municipality.
The visit by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) engineers came about following the late vice president Badara Alieu Joof who traveled to Turkey and met with TIKA officials to lobby for assistance as a result of the flash floods in last year’s rainy season.
The floods caused serious havoc to many especially those in greater Banjul areas.
Speaking to the delegates at his office in Kanifing, Sana Dahaba, the Executive Director of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) described the initiative by the former vice president as one of his biggest legacies.
He expressed his profound appreciate with the indigenization of the entire process.
Mr. Dahaba added that the best way to support is to interface external assistance with indigenous knowledge that will help the entire flood process.
He commended the Turkish Government through TIKA, and assured the delegation of their support to facilitate the process.
Serign Falu Njie, the Development Adviser at the Office of the Vice President, said: “The former vice president was very concern about the issue of disaster management and always emphasized the need to addressing the root causes of disaster.”
Mrr Njie further revealed that the number of people affected by disasters over the year has increased exponentially in The Gambia, noting that it is therefore really urgent that something is done.
“We look forward to working with you and hope that after the field visits we will have a better understanding of what the issues are and together sit and hopefully finalize the proposal and more forward as partners,” Njie added.
Also speaking at the meeting, Dawda L. Ceesay, Permanent Secretary and Head of Admin at the Office of the Vice President, noted that the former vice president believed that with the havoc being caused by floods they needed to take a different approach and also look for external support.
PS Ceesay further disclosed that the delegation’s visit demonstrated that Turkish government is resolved to help the government of The Gambia.
Mr Ceesay thanked TIKA and Turkish government for their support over the years.
Gerher Ebru Cevihezlu, head of the Turkish delegation, said they look forward to seeing the flood prone areas, adding that they are here to prepare a technical report to see what comes out of the report.
The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) was established in 1992 with the purpose of providing technical assistance for developing countries and establishing relations with them in areas of economy, trade, technology, culture, education and social development through implementation of projects and programs.
