Demolished Stall Owners Lament Frustration, Others

 

By Sheriff Saidykhan & Amadou Manneh

Stall owners along the Tippa garage-Serekunda road have expressed their growing frustration over the demolition of their stalls.

They decry that their source of income has been halted. They also lamented that if they don’t have place to build their stalls they’ll be without income. 

The demolition of stalls on the roadside is part of government's nationwide road cleansing exercise. The exercise is conducted by the police force, military and other security apparatus.

Nyima Sanneh, a vendor whose stall was demolished, lamented that  the demolition took her off-guard. 

“I was barely ready to pack my things. It was so such sudden, in fact, there was no notice from the authorities that I should vacate the stall,” she said.

She added that the demolition causes devastation for her family as it halted the source of her family income.

She fears that if she couldn’t find new stalls her family will lose their source of income.

Sainabou  Fatty, a petty trader, said that she sells on the roadside because she has no place in the market. 

“The market is congested already so where do they expect us to go and earns our living,” she argued. 

She added that the road cleansing exercise causes devastation for vendors, saying they have no place to go and sell their goods.

“If we don’t have any place to sell so where are we going to earn money to send our children to school or put food on the table,”  she said.

Mariama Touray, another demolished stall owner, said she has been paying taxes, arguing that  why do the authorities demolished her stall.

She called on the government and Kanifing Municipality Council to find immediate solution to their problems.

“This cannot continue. We are in difficult times in this country so we can’t afford not to sell our goods to support our families,” she decried. 

Other demolished stall owners also lamented the same views about the effects the demolition of their stall causes them.