One of the small heaps of basalt on the sides of the road in Sabach Sukoto, Kataba and Nyang Kunda villages on 24th September 2022
By Mustapha Ceesay
Some locals in a few villages by the newSabach Sanjal Road network collect and sell basalt on the sides of the road.
Earlier Saturday, this reporter on a trip saw some locals in 3 settlements along the road gathering the basalt on the sides of the the newly built road network.
Later on, multiple small heaps of basalt were spotted on either sides of the road in Nyang Kunda, Kataba and Sabach Sukoto villages that were earlier gathered by the locals for onward bagging and selling.
Multiple 50kg-bags filled with the stone flanged the pavement of the new road that stretches through the mentioned villages to Sara Kunda.
When asked about the activity, an adult seen walking on the pavement with children said they use the basalt for domestic and monetary purposes.
“We gather it, take it home, and fill in portholes with it…We also sell it. A bag is sold for D250,” the young lady said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure and the National Roads Authority has advised against the “sweeping and scraping” of the basalt aggregates on the sides of the LOT 1 of the North Bank Roads in Sabach Sanjal.
“The Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure and NRA is appealing to the general public, more so the communities in the vicinity of the said roads, to desist from such act and to report any incident of this nature to a nearby Police Station.
“This activity is unacceptable, as it can severely interfere with the structural integrity of the road in the long term,” the ministry said in a statement dated 24th September.
The statement added that MoTWI and NRA are dismayed by the act by certain people within the catchment areas in the Sabach Sanjal district.