KMC Says “Blockage” Of Drain Caused Flood At Latrikunda Sabiji Market

By Landing Ceesay

The Kanifing Municipal Council has said the “blockage” of the drain along the Brikama Highway caused the flood at Latrikunda Sabiji market on Thursday.

“Following the early morning downpour on Thursday 23^rd June 2022 which led to some flooding at the Latrikunda Sabiji market, the Kanifing Municipal Council wishes to clarify that the flooding was caused by the blockage of the main drainages (channels) along the Brikama highway,” KMC said in a statement. 

The statement added that the said drain along the Brikama Highway is under the responsibilities of the National Road Authority (NRA) not the council. 

“The National Road Authority (NRA) being responsible for these drainages has been cleaning them for the past years, but were yet to clean them this year (2022) and the blockage obstructed the free flow of the water, thereby causing the flooding at the market,” it added.

In collaboration with the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), the Kanifing Municipal Council has already cleaned over 50 drainages and excavated canals situated in hot spots areas such as the Sankung Sillah exchange point and the long stretch Kotu-Bundung canal which totals to over 30 kilometres within the municipality, the statement continued.

The the Council stated that the cleaning exercise fully funded from its annual disaster mitigation budget has been a regular activity it undertakes since 2018.

The KMC said currently it has started to open and clean the main drainages along the Latrikunda Sabiji market to minimize or avert where possible, another flood.

The statement went on to say that, the council is also working to start the pavement of the road from the main highway through the market to the Bundung-Bamboo garage geared towards addressing the threat of another flood.

“On behalf of the Lord Mayor and management, [the] Council sincerely expresses its deep sympathy with those affected and will work closely with the NRA and NDMA to avoid the occurrence of another flood within the municipality,” the council said.