By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
Some market vendors stationed at the entrance of the Brikama Market, where piles of garbage are dumped, say the sales of their goods have drastically gone down due to the presence of the garbage for days. This has caused inconvenience for many customers trying to buy their goods, affecting their small businesses.
These market vendors, who sell onions, sorrels, bitter tomatoes, and other spices at the entrance of the Market around the Brikama Bus Station, urge the Brikama Area Council to consider their plight and clear the garbage dumped around where they sell.
“I am concerned about my goods. Nobody is coming to buy them. Everyone is passing with masks because of this waste that is being dumped and left here. My goods are hardly bought now. It is affecting me and many others because if our goods remain here for more than a day, they will get destroyed,” Nyima TOURAY, a vegetable vendor, told The Fatu Network.
Nyima called on the Brikama Area Council to consider their businesses and the health risk and clear the waste dumped there.
Fatou Drammeh, a single mother who depends on the sales of her goods to take care of her children at home, says she is now running out of profits because her goods are being left with the pile of waste dumped in the vicinity of their seats where she sells. She called out the Brikama Area Council to come and clear the waste because they pay their daily taxes.
“Brikama Area Council should come and clean this. We are really suffering here with my business. I am running out of profit because of this waste. I bought these goods today for D400, but since in the morning, I have not sold to more than five customers, unlike before. If I were these customers, I would not come here and buy because of the waste that is being dumped here. This is not even good for our health,” she noted.
Fatou Mbye and Binta Bojang all echoed similar concerns and urged the responsible authorities to act and solve the issues affecting them as market vendors.
The Fatu Network understands the stand-off at the Brikama Area Council administrative office, which is affecting operations.
