By: Ousman Saidykhan
Residents in the Kanifing neighbourhood close to the QCell building along Kairaba Avenue have been deprived of proper sleep at night owing to the ongoing construction of underground parking just behind the Qcell headquarters by the QGroup CEO Muhammed Jah, distraught Kanifing South residents told The Fatu Network.
The residents say the “nuisance” has been going on for two weeks now and they can’t bear it anymore.
The CEO of Qgroup, Muhammed Jah said he is building underground parking, a project he said would make the street a commercial one after completion.
The residents say the continuous noise that comes from the excavators and “huge” crisscrossing trucks at night always deprive them of sleep.
“No one can stop them from working during the day but let them allow us to sleep at night. No one sleeps here these days at night, at all,” an old woman, Fatou Lowe said.
The fact that this is happening in the month of Ramadan when one “needs to rest, sleep and wake up and do your prayers” makes it awkward for residents like Mamasa Tunkara.
“I was startled when I heard the noise the first day. I thought something was happening. The be honest, if something has to be done, it has to be done quickly because we can’t sleep,” Tunkara told this medium.
The residents argue that work should not go beyond sunset because the area is residential, not a commercial area.
They told this medium they have approached workers at the site who told them they work at night because traffic is mostly congested during the day.
The owner of the project, Muhammed Jah, however, said his contractors will continue the night works because they want to finish the digging before the rainy season.
“Before starting the works, we have informed all the neighbours about it,” said the Qgroup CEO. Muhammed Jah said Gambians should start working both day and night, “like other countries,” to finish work quickly.
The residents who spoke to this medium all denied Muhammed Jah’s claim that he visited them to inform them with regard to the construction.
“This is just the beginning. Before the completion of the building, we will die if the foundations are what they are digging currently. Let them stop the night works and work only daytime,” said another resident Ngoneh Secke.
Meanwhile, the other concern of some residents is that the route Jah’s contractors use to get to the Highway is tight and causes the truck to come into contact with NAWEC’s electricity cables hanging over the “tight” road.
According to the residents, they witnessed an electricity spark one night, which they said is as a result of the trucks’ crisscrossing on the narrow road. They said they are afraid if those “big trucks” continue going through that “narrow road,” it may cause damage to them.
