By Fatou Sillah
Saloum Manjang, the Managing Director of Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSHFC) said the problem at Jabang estate that caused flooding is above his institution.
“The problem at Jabang is above Social Security as a corporation and since last year I pointed this out, but due to the disaster people did not understand. I hope they will understand now that to solve a problem, you start from the source. The drainage starts from Tawto and ends at Tanji. Jabang is in the middle, if you solve Jabang and don’t solve Tawto the problem is not solved
“So, it is above Social Security, and it is being looked at from the Central Government level. In 2020, a study was conducted, this was before the flooding and Social Security sponsored the consultancy. We paid two hundred and forty-five thousand dalasis (D245, 000) for the study,” he stated
The Director added that they allocated some funds for the National Disaster Management Agency to bring some relief to the area after it was agreed at the central government level that the issue was beyond his institution’s capacity.
“We also allocate some funds for the National Disaster Management Agency because when they looked at things at the central government level, they agreed that it is above Social Security. NDMA asked us to just pledge something that will be used to bring some temporal relief to the problem while waiting for the main report being prepared at the level of the central government by the technicians,” he said
The Managing Director added that the people of Jabang are their customers, thus they will never turn their back on them.
“The Jabang people are our customers. We will never turn our back on them. We did our own studies, and we know those who are deeply affected. We have plans for them, and we have been shaking hands with them. Furthermore, we came here during the rainy season and gave some food items and a lot of support to them, and we do not relent on our roles. We are concerned about them, and they are our priority, but the fact of the matter is that the problem at Jabang is a national problem because the drainage system in the country is an issue, and it is inherited from the first Republic,” he said.
The Director of Social Security made these remarks at Jabang on Tuesday after the completion of their site visits to areas affected by the flood.