Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Mayor of Kanifing Municipality
By Fatou Sillah
Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda has strongly defended the Kanifing Municipal Council’s (KMC) waste management practices after criticism emerged linking recent fires at Latrikunda and Serekunda Sandika to alleged negligence in garbage handling.
Speaking in an interview with QTV Gambia, Mayor Bensouda rejected the claims, clarifying that preliminary reports indicate the fires were sparked by electrical faults—not by garbage mismanagement.
“Garbage is something that you cannot use to criticize KMC because everyday people are seeing trucks in their areas. So that is not our number one problem. It is true you cannot tackle garbage completely but we have reduce it significantly. We have 32 Gabage Trucks, we have 20 skid bins, and we have built six garbage rooms,we will inaugurate that soon. And Every body has seen what we have done in the Bakoteh Dumpsite and with the help of God that place has not caught fire in four years. So you can criticize us for anything aside from garbage,” Mayor Bensouda said.
He highlighted the municipality’s investments, which include 32 garbage trucks, 20 skid bins, and six newly constructed garbage rooms, which are expected to be inaugurated soon. He also referenced improvements at the Bakoteh Dumpsite, which he noted has remained fire-free for four consecutive years.
“KMC, we did some work in our first term. Until today, there are garbages, where people stay there must be garbages but how KMC managed its garbages, no council in The Gambia is doing that. Today we have 32 garbage trucks. If you put all the councils together we have more garbage trucks more than them, 3 times,” He Said.
Mayor Bensouda also condemned the tendency to quickly criticize or politicize unfortunate events, stating that when tragedy strikes and people are injured or suffer property loss, the immediate focus should be on providing support and assistance to those affected.
“I condemn when something bad happened people quickly criticizing it, or quickly politicize it. when trouble happens in a country and some are hurting or their properties got destroyed, our first reaction should be how to help them, and work together to come from that.” He said.
He added “When we come out from that challenges and look back to see what we should have done so that it won’t have happened, then we can enter the blame game. But what surprise me was before the fire even get extinguished people were looking for ways to politicize it,” he said.
The Mayor also clarified that the Latrikunda Sandika is privately owned and not under the jurisdiction of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC). He explained that the property belongs to an individual who rented it out, and it was subsequently turned into a market by the tenants.
“The Latrikunda Sandika is a private property not the property of KMC. The individual rent the place to people and they turn it into a Sandika. KMC only have one Sandika and that is the one in Serekunda,” He Said.
The Mayor also explained that, according to reports from the municipal police, the fire was caused by an electrical spark—not by garbage.