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Momodou
Denmark
11824 Posts |
 Posted - 10 Aug 2006 : 00:06:12
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TOURISM AREA FLOODED
Thousands of Dalasis Lost In Damages
By Bubacarr K. Sowe
A heavy down pour of rain in the early hours of Tuesday morning, has left the Kairaba and Senegambia Hotel, Bars, Restaurants and Offices flooded to almost window level. The Standard Chartered Bank branch in that area was also affected. Among the damages at the two major hotels included computers, chairs, sofas, beds, electronic equipment and several other items. The wall that borders the Kairaba and Senegambia Hotels, also fell down because of the water.Abdel Hakim El-Nahry, General Manager of Kairaba Hotel, said it is too early to assess the level of damage, but that he believes it will be high. “By seven o’clock in the morning, it was not possible to see the garden. The water level was so high that it reached the electric plugs and I am sure, most of our computers and telephone lines have been affected. A wall was knocked down by the storm.” Mr. El-Nahry told Foroyaa.
Memunata Junisa, Human Resources Manager at the Kairaba Hotel said that their stores, hall and conference rooms, guest rooms including the Presidential block were seriously flooded. Madam Junisa indicated that in most part of the hotel, the water level was above one metre, blocking most toilets. The hotel’s swimming pool was turned into a stream. “All our staff were called to come on board to clear the mud and pushed the water back. Most of our computers and equipment got wet. We have to turn off the electricity for safety, because everything was wet,” Junisa told our reporter.
At the Senegambia Hotel, the same picture emerged. A staff at the hotel said that more than twenty glass doors were broken by the surging water.
A manager who beg for anonymity said that inadequate drainage at the hotels area could be the cause of the floods. “The way the drainage is designed in this area is not good,” the man said. Another manager said: “There was serious flooding in all the offices and the reception area. The water was between fifteen to seventy centimeters high and in some areas it was up to a metre. We had to call all workers to come.
The rooms in the garden and all the shops were affected.” The staff added that they cannot presently assess the level of damage, since it is so prompt.
However, an eye witness to the scene has indicated that the damages in the two major hotels and surrounding shops and bars, will amount to hundreds of thousands of dalasis.
A British Photographer, Haward Pain who took several shots in the affected areas, said that the beach was eroded.
Diana Bolton and Lyn Grant, both British school teachers on holidays at the Kairaba Hotel said most of their belongings were soaked in the flood waters but showed gratitude to the hotel staff for taking care of them during the flood.
Another area seriously affected is the Wedad’s Building which houses the Standard Chartered Bank, MJ Financial Services, Palm Real Estate and the Chinese restaurant. The Wedad generator room was also one metre deep in water. Alagi Gaye, a security guard at the Standard Chartered Bank said that their bank also suffered a minor flood last season.
The Gambia Tourism Authority has attributed the flood to poor drainage.” This is a natural disaster. The drainage system is inadequate and we will jointly work this out,” said Amadou Ceesay, Acting Director General of G.T.A.
However, Foroyaa has learnt that a meeting between the GTA, the Kairaba and Senegambia Hotels was held on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the floods that hit the area.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 63/2006, 9-10 July, 2006
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jambo
3300 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2006 : 16:21:33
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| bad drainage, poor management, I hope somebody is accountable for this. the loss in bookings will be high. |
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Sister Omega
United Kingdom
2085 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2006 : 18:31:19
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Environmental hazards do happen therefore it is important for the Tourist Development Area Drainage system to be thoroughly sorted out to prevent similar occurences from happening in the furure. But obviously this cannot be done in isolation to the larger problem of general drainage system within the Senegambia area as a whole. Coast erosion is still continuing to be a problem, all these impacts need to be addressed. I think its properly inappropriate to blame an individual for this could fall under the category as an act of God. And I doubt if there will be any insurance payout for this. As for a loss in bookings yes for these establishments but not for other hotels who I guess will be pleased to have extra bookings. That's if British holidymakers aren't put off from flying altogether due to increased terrorist attack speculations. The tourist industry is a very fickle. Fortunately the timing of the floods occurred during the low season so it won't be so devastating to the industry. It should be recilent enough to absorb this incident.
peace
Sister Omega
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Peace
Sister Omega |
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LEMON TIME
Afghanistan
1295 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2006 : 04:47:08
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| GOOD DRAINAGE IS WHAT THE WHOLE COUNTRY NEEDS.WHAT HAPPEND TO THE MILLIONS OF POUNDS THAT WE GET AS A LOAN TO HELP FIX GAMBIA EHH. |
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Sister Omega
United Kingdom
2085 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2006 : 10:29:05
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Lemon Time Good question. That's precisely why public money shouldn't be classed as private money. A clean physical infrastructure is paramount for all peoples environmental health. Just imagine how many people would be saved from malaria each year through cleaning the drainage system or updating them in Gambia and getting rid of the rubbish. There definitely needs to be some quality standards implemented in this area of drainage and refuge collection to lessen the frequency of devastating environmental impacts such as floodling.
Peace
Sister Omega |
Peace
Sister Omega |
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jambo
3300 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2006 : 13:48:54
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sister omega, when i said someone is to blame, it is always the fault of an individual as opposed to a whole department. In the UK if something like this happened, it would a superviosr or manager who made a judgement call, didn't sign the papers, or didn't approve the repairs, put the money that was allocated for a certain project on useless schemes the list goes on.
In Gambia as Lemontime as said what happed to the money that was meant for this drainage.
if it was investigated properly you woul dfind that the money was put somewhere else.
Management is down to an individual, but the problem with Gambia management changes so quickly it is frightening.
Insurance if it is a Gambian company long time waiting, read the postings about insurance that was posted by Momodou.
Costals erision is down to more than just one thing, gambia does not have a policy of mass building on the cost lines like spain did, so it might be a combination of climate change and man. |
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