In wake of the boat that has reportedly vanished at sea, Abdoullah D. Jaiteh has expressed shock over the passengers who are believed dead after the embarkation capsized between Senegal and Mauritania.
“We understand that because of lack of opportunities, many youths want to go to Europe in search of greener pastures,” he deplored in an exclusive interview but he was quick to add the “back-way” cannot be a salutary alternative.
Reports relayed on social messaging platforms suggest that dozens of migrants have perished at sea. Among them, 40 are from Jambur while 27 came from the coastal community of Kartong.
Jaiteh confided to Jollofnews that the said boat left the shores of Kartong on October 14, 2023. He then added that after one-month-long waiting, they got the news that the boat did not reach its destination.
Abdoullah D. Jaiteh, who works at the Kartong crossing point, revealed that he lost his close friend in the boat disaster.
“I lost my very close friend in the boat disaster,” he revealed that out of the 27 passengers that perished in sea, 2 are not Kartong natives.
Similarly, members of the village development committee (VDC), who also spoke to JollofNews, made it very clear they were completely left in the dark.
Speaking JollofNews, they all expressed shock about the loss of lives, and called on the authorities to enable the navy to carry out their mission in putting a halt to the flux of would-be migrants departing from the country’ shores.
The Kartong VDC called on Gambian authorities to invest more in agriculture, scale up the construction of boreholes across the country in order to create opportunities for the youths.
In Jambajelly, an atmosphere of anxiety was still prevailing after the news broke out that a boat capsized, leaving many people dead.
“We are still struggling to cope with the disaster that has involved youths from Jambur, Jambajelly and Kartong,” Jambajelly VDC Chairman Famalang Bajo told JollofNews. “We are yet to conduct our own findings in Jambajelly but we know there is one person involved in the tragedy.”
He further stated that a Quranic recitation ceremony was held last Friday in honour of the deceased Abdoulie Marong.
According to him, Abdoulie Marong was running errands for his father. Far more interesting, he indicated that he used to call the adhan publicly before prayers.
As the list of 40 people from Jambur continues to make headlines, there is a resounding silence prevailing in the area. Our questions remained without answers.
Neither the Imam nor the Alkalo were able to shine a light on the tragedy. They both declined to respond our request for comment.
“I can’t say anything about this information. Some are saying it is true, others are saying the contrary,” Haruna Bojang voiced out.
