By Landing Ceesay
The Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) officially handed over the newly constructed Bundung Community Park to the residents of Bundung on Saturday, marking a significant milestone in the municipality’s efforts to enhance recreational facilities.
The park, developed as part of the Kanifing Environmental Transformation Programme (KETP), is designed to promote sports and recreational activities for the community. The KETP focuses on key areas such as waste management, education, and tree planting, and the development of green spaces like the Bundung Community Park is a critical element of this initiative.
The inauguration ceremony featured two thrilling football matches between local academies, providing a platform for young talent to showcase their skills.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Mayor of KMC, Mrs. Binta Janneh-Jallow, expressed her joy at the completion of the park, emphasizing that it aligns with KMC’s vision of creating safe spaces for children. She noted that the park offers a secure environment for children to play, serving as an alternative to the beach, which poses safety risks.
“The project is expected to construct six community parks in the municipality. The development of these parks is central to the municipality’s effort to green the city. This activity is in response to consultation with pupils, teachers, and parents’ desire for greater access to recreation and playground facilities that are well-maintained and secure within the municipality. It fulfils the Council’s commitment as a public service provider to enhance the municipal parks and keep open spaces for public access. This is in line with the specific objective two of the project, which is to enhance social inclusion for the residents of the municipality, especially children, youth, women, and disabled persons, by providing safe and accessible play. Therefore, we urge children to maximum utilize the parks and avoid going to the beaches to play, which certainly has high risk,” the Deputy Mayor told the gathering.
Mrs. Janneh-Jallow also highlighted the importance of community involvement in maintaining the park’s sustainability, mentioning that a management committee has been set up to oversee its operations.
“We would urge the committee to be steadfast in executing their functions, and the council will certainly support you to award the implementation of the sustainability of the park. I would like to thank the community of Bundung for collaborating with the council for the construction of the park, the project team for achieving yet another milestone project, and the contractor for the construction of the park,” she said. Hon. Sulayman Jammeh, National Assembly Member for Bundungka Kunda Constituency, lauded the KMC and its partners, particularly the European Union, for making the project a reality.
“This is a very important project for the people of Bundung. I am thanking the KMC under the Leadership of Talib Ahmed Bensouda and the European Union for this project. We should always recognize and commend the people who bring projects. Because it is development. This park will not only help the children, but it will also help people like me who are always busy to come and play here at our leisure time,” Hon. Jammeh said.
Mr. Lamin Sanyang, Project Manager of KETP, extended his gratitude to the European Union for its financial support in making the project a reality. He emphasized the importance of continued collaboration for future developments.”We thank the European Union for funding this project. We are grateful for their unwavering support. This project also brought some materials for the park’s sustainability, and we hope the park committee would utilize these materials and take good care of the park,” Mr. Sanyang said.
Enrica Pellacani, Head of Cooperation for the European Union Delegation to The Gambia, encouraged the community to take responsibility for maintaining the park for future generations.
The Bundung Community Park is one of seven parks being developed under the KETP. Four, including Bundung, have already been completed, with two more set to be inaugurated soon.