By Fatou Camara
An SN Brussels flight Monday evening landed at Banjul International Airport with 150 passengers onboard, despite the border closure and international travel ban due to Covid-19 pandemic.
A health worker on the ground Dawda Jarju confirmed to The Fatu Network that the 150 people would be taken straight to the quarantine centres.
“We received signal that they are 150 and will be in quarantine for 14 days. They will be in quarantine. No one is going home and the quarantine centre are Badala Park , Sun Beach and Bambo and Cora as well so these people are not going anywhere. They are directly inside and all the ambulance are inside with the vehicles sent by the ministry of health so they are all inside no one is coming outside, they are not even allowed to see a relative,” Jarju said.
Alieu Bayo a concerned Gambian The Fatu Network met at the airport expressed fears about the arrival of the flight.
” I am not happy with the way we are dealing with our health . We do hear and see the deadliness of coronavirus and Gambia is too small for that. I don’t deny a flight coming [sic] into the Gambia, I just want the government to take a deep look at our health system and security. Look at this place, there is zero social distancing,” Bayo said.
Gambians and non-Gambians that want to leave the country stormed the airport in an attempt to get into the plane that scheduled to make a return trip to Brussels.
A white lady Brita was among those trying to leave the country and she said: “I came to The Gambia to help something for the people but am a kind of confused for a fact that I want to go back home but non of the airlines I write to replies to emails and the worst part is the security here are not polite. We are very nervous.”
