By Landing Ceesay
The Residents of Kanifing South applauded Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the Mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) for what they call his “great” work in the Region during a meeting held in their area, part of the mayor’s municipality meet the people’s dialogue mandated by the Local Government Act.
Imam Malanding Jaiteh, a resident of Kanifing South, told the crowd that Mayor Bensouda is the best Mayor Kanifing Municipality has ever had.
“If we had known that Mayor Bensouda would do these developments, we would have searched for him since he was a child and make him our mayor. We have been in Kanifing South since 1978, but we never had a Mayor like Talib Bensouda. Kanifing South is clean, and Kanifing as Region is clean as well. If there is no bias but only truth we are looking for, in the past 40 years the country never had a Mayor like Talib Ahmed Bensouda,” Imam Jaiteh told the gathering.
Mr. Ebrima Barry, also a resident of Kanifing South, hailed Mayor Bensouda and described him as a “good leader.”
“Talib is a good leader and the best Mayor,” just like Imam Jaiteh said moments ago. He is doing an incredibly good job, and we all witness it,” Mr. Barry said.
Aminata Ceesay, another resident of Kanifing South, praised Mayor Bensouda for making their environments clean. While calling on the mayor to help them with streetlights on their feeder roads.
“Talib Bensouda, I asked you to go and sleep. Kanifing South is yours. You are going to win here by the grace of Allah,” she told the mayor.
Mr. Alhagie Gaye, also a resident of Kanifing South, assured Mayor Bensouda of victory in the coming Local Government elections.
“Talib Bensouda is brought to us by Allah. What he did here, no one did it. If you look at our garage, it is very clean. It used to be dirty to the extent we didn’t even know what to do. But now it is very clean, even the people who pass by know that the garage is very clean now. Our garage is now cleaner than the Serekunda Market.
“Before Talib Bensouda comes to the office, we used to struggle for our Mbalit. There was no rubbish bin and there was no truck. But since Talib Bensouda came to power, all that is history now. Thank you, Mayor Bensouda, and we guarantee you our votes. Don’t be afraid of anything, we are behind you. Everyone is happy with your work, Mayor Bensouda. If I want to say all that you have done, we will be here till morning. You are going to be in office for the next 5 years,” Mr. Gaye said.
Alhagie Ousman Sawaneh, an Imam of one of the Masjids in Kanifing South, said Mayor Bensouda’s work is visible everywhere in the country.
“We have had many councillors and Mayors before, but Talib is the best we ever have. This is visible everywhere and everyone has seen his great work. One of the Pillars of Islam is cleanliness. Talib Bensouda has brought cleanliness to the country. This is something that every Gambian is witnessing. Apart from the aspect of cleanliness, the work done by Talib Bensouda is clear to everyone,” Imam Sawaneh said.
Meanwhile, Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda promised the people of Kanifing South more Mbalit trucks.
“When I came into the office, Mbalit was our biggest problem. Because it was a big problem in KMC, we provided 24 trucks for 24 wards, including Kanifing South. Not long ago, we gave out 10,000 trash bins to households. There are a lot of trash bins on the way coming InshaAllah. Kanifing South here has a skip bin which is the biggest. This year, we will acquire an additional 7 Mbalit trucks and add it to the 24 trucks we have already.
“We have done a lot of work at the Bakoteh dumpsite. We have fenced the whole dumpsite and constructed concrete roads there. We have a recycling centre, a toilet block, a water system, and a fire tanker in case there is a fire. Furthermore, we intend to transfer the dump site, but that power is in the hands of the central government,” Mayor Bensouda told the people of Kanifing South.
The Mayor’s Meet the People’s Tour continues today to the other wards within the Kanifing Municipality (KM).