The Daily Observer (Banjul)
6 July 2009
Janjangbureh — As the administrative capital of the Central River Region, the island of Janjangbureh is the seat of the governor of the region.
However, years of neglect had turned that small but potentially lively town of a population of over 3000 into some sort of a ghost settlement, a situation that this government has been determined to reverse. Today, there is every indication that the government's efforts are paying dividend. Already, the country has just witnessed the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of the Janjangbureh-Sankulay Kunda Bridge, which will serve as a recipe for intensive revival of the town and its surrounding settlements.
The Sankulay Kunda river crossing forms part of the dark memories of the people of that area, as a bus packed with people plunged into the river in 1992, claiming the lives of six people. The bridge, on completion, will not only facilitate the easy movement of goods and people, but will serve as a cushion against the occurrence of a similar tragedy. If there are people well placed to explain the achievements of government in this area, a man who has kept close contact with everything within the region, CRR Governor Ganyie Touray, is one of them.
"There are lots of developments in all aspects," Governor Touray told the Observer July 22nd bus crew at his residence, as he recounted the development undertakings of the APRC government in the region since the beginning of the Revolution. "From infrastructural development to strengthening of institutions necessary for sustainable development such as agriculture, security, electricity and water supply, education, etc," he listed.
President Yahya Jammeh's preoccupation, as he has stated on a number occasions, has always been directed towards making this town regain it lost glory. And the CRR governor remains rather optimistic about what the future holds for this historic town of a place especially so in the light of a renewed display of attention by government. Although electricity is said to have been in Janjangbureh before 1994, its hideously erratic nature effectively added to the frustration of the people. Today, thanks to the coming of the Rural Electrification Phase I project, the story is much different. A brand new power station, located in the town of Bansang, replaced the old, decrepit structure that used to serve Janjangbureh's electricity needs.
Apart from increased comfortability at the home level, more lodges have been cropping up in response to this situation. And existing lodges are not taking chance. People like Sutay Sinyan, owner of Baobolong Lodge, are looking ahead to the imminent resurrection of business activities in the town. He is currently upgrading his lodge with the addition of more quarters, in apparent anticipation of the demand of future prospects. Baobolong Lodge is among the most standard of lodges in the town.
A new military post on the northern part of the town in Lamin Koto, as well as the Police Intervention Unit post at Yorro Beri Kunda on the south side, provides some kind of security for not only Janjangbureh, but the entire area. Consequently, the people feel more secure today than ever before. Armitage High School, now Armitage Senior Secondary School, although constructed during the colonial era, has been receiving boosts in all forms from both government and the president himself, all geared towards ensuring the continuation of the provision of quality and affordable higher education for Gambian children in that part of the country.
Before the construction of Janjangbureh Upper Basic School, there was no separate junior secondary school in the town. Students had to score special grades in order to be enrolled at Armitage, where they had the chance to school from grade 7 to 12. And as part of the national education policy, Janjangbureh has one of the regional education offices built across the country. Other projects implemented by government include renovation of the Janjangbureh market, the post office - now called Gampost, as well as the Janjangbureh Police Station.
There has also been a great stride in terms of enhancing the lives of the women farmers, with the construction of two course ways linking the rice fields. This happened alongside the upgrading of the Janjangbureh rice farms. And just recently, the community of Janjangbureh received a brand new tractor, courtesy of the Gambian leader himself. Janjangbureh Health Center has also received a boost in the form of expansion. And its staff now has a new ambulance that will facilitate their delivery services.
Also of significance to the people of Janjangbureh is the transformation of the town into a constituency, effectively giving them quite a wider say in national issues. Being an island, the people of the town had had problems linking with the other sides of the country prior to the July 22nd Revolution. But today, they have at their disposal two ferries equipped with modern facilities, for the first time in the history of the country, plying the Lamin Koto-Janjangbureh, and the Janjangbureh-Sankulay Kunda crossing points.
Bansang
A town like Bansang, the largest settlement in the whole of CRR, barely had portable drinking water, and electricity supply was almost non-existent given its equally erratic nature. In effect, life there was kind of dwindling on a minute by minute basis, so to speak. Today, the Rural Electrification Project has kind of regenerated life in Bansang. The boom in business activities is evidence of this.
Kani Kayang operates a saw mill alongside her husband. This saw mill has been in existence since 1987, but it was not until the arrival of rural electrification that Kani and her husband started realising the full potential of their profession. Reliance on generator for power, which they had resigned to thanks to the irregularity of previous electricity supply, had rendered the couple mere amateurs. "For us, the benefits of the coming of this reliable electricity supply is enormous," she posited.
Apart from total emancipation from the burden of having to struggle for fuel for their generator, the couple is presently realising what they think is their rightful profit. "And the power of the voltage from the NAWEC-generated electricity makes a huge difference for us, given the nature of our work," Kani told the Observer crew. There are many workshops like Kani's now in Bansang. There is also a boom in the area of financial and economic activities, with the establishment of branches like Reliance Financial Services, Money Gram, Western Union, etc.
Bansang Hospital remains the second biggest hospital in the country, after the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital in Banjul. The APRC government has not lost sight of the need to ensure that it retains its status, considering its role in the dispensation of medical services to the people in that part of the country. There has been tremendous development on the various units, both in terms of structure and service delivery. Bansang also remains the point for referral throughout that half part of the country. Through government-guided policy, the hospital has been able to retain its much needed staff by creating a number of incentives, among them provision of staff quarters. There is every indication that the coming of reliable electricity to Bansang has impacted greatly on the lives of the people. But especially crucial to this is the hospital's need for electricity supply.
Bansang also has a fire station, which was built in 2003. It covers the all the villages of Central River Region North and South and some parts of Upper River Region. Bansang actually hosts the power station built under the Rural Electrification Project Phase I, and it supplies other settlements such as Dobong Kunda, Sukurr Kunda, Janjang Bureh, Wassu, Kuntaur, Madina Sotokoto, Niani Sukuta. In its fifth year of operation, the station has three generators with 250 KV each, operating from 9:00am to 2:00pm and then from 6:00pm to 3:00am, daily.
On the outskirts of Bansang there is this newly built edifice of a senior secondary school. It is actually located in the village of Bantanto. This school now serves as an alternate choice for the people in that area, from Janjangbureh and beyond, to Bansang itself, Bantanto, and other satellite villages.
The school has 3 classroom blocks, 4 science labs, wood, metal, technical drawing and arts & craft workshops, a football field, a basketball lawn, among other facilities. Apart from its spaciousness, it provides some of the most peaceful of atmospheres, making it conducive for learning. Like many of the schools in rural Gambia, this school also has staff quarters. Ansu Sanyang, a mathematics teacher at the school, told the Daily Observer that the availability of the staff quarters is very important in that it contributes a great deal in reducing the burden of expenditure on teachers. "The enrolment figure in this school stands at 743 and more than 10 upper basic schools in Central River Region and Upper River Region are sending their students to this place every year," said Ba Sanna Kanyi, senior master at the school.
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