By Makutu Manneh
Unregulated settlements have emerged as one of the central challenges facing disaster management authorities in the Greater Banjul Area, according to Sanna Dahaba, executive director of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA).
In an interview on QTV about the impact of seasonal flooding, Mr. Dahaba pointed to neighborhoods including Tallinding, Ebo Town, and Bakau Farokono, where, he said, residents are increasingly pushing water to settle—a practice he described as risky.
Rapid urbanization across the Greater Banjul Area has compounded the problem, he said. Areas such as Farokono were originally meant for rice cultivation, and the NDMA finds it difficult to reach communities in these areas.
“The biggest mistakes during flooding include people settling on waterways, failing to collect waste until floods occur, and continuing to live in houses that are already flooded,” he said.
Much of the flooding recorded in the country is associated with cross-border flooding, Mr. Dahaba said. With the advent of artificial intelligence, he added, the NDMA is working with partners to apply AI to determine flood patterns and sources, which he said would help authorities get the data needed to address the concerns.
He also framed the issue in broader terms, saying that development itself creates disaster, and disaster creates development. He recalled that years ago many roads were not tarred, and drainage systems were a major challenge.
Mr. Dahaba emphasized that water is the most compelling element, and that if water is blocked in one place, it will find another outlet. “What is needed is to create waterways so that water has a passage and a canal to empty into the river,” he said.
He closed by placing the country’s flooding challenges in a global context, stressing that no country in the world can avoid the impact of climate change and that climate change is real.
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