By Abdoulie John
The National Assembly Member of the opposition Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) has called on Gambian authorities to open investigation into a fire outbreak that partly destroyed former the President’s Kanilai residence and its surroundings.
“I am with the view that by virtue of the portfolio he held in this country such a fire incident should trigger the authorities to take their responsibility to assess and come out with a report,” the Foni Kansala’s lawmaker told this medium after a site visit on Saturday.
Last week, the home village of the exiled former President Yahya Jammeh was hit by a massive fire outbreak that left a spectacle of desolation and destruction.
Hon. Musa Amul Nyassi concurred that an inquiry would determine the cause of such a fire because the general public needs to know what really happened.
“When the fire incident started, I was in the Kombos,” he said, adding that it was on Friday that he got the opportunity to set off towards Foni. Hon. Nyassi went to Kanilai to get first-hand information about the devastating fire that destroyed the palace of the Gambia’s former longtime ruler.
Hon. Nyassi revealed the fire caused complete destruction of the pavilion located in the multi-purpose arena that used to host Kanilai festival.
“There is also another area where women used to cultivate vegetables. That place has seriously been affected. But nothing happened to the main building.”
He added that the fire had also left its toll on the entire land used for agricultural purposes by President Jammeh, which had been destroyed. “The giant inferno has seriously affected the palm trees and Yahya Jammeh’s farm land,” he said.
The Foni Kansala MP agreed with observers’ point of view that lack of agricultural activities had allowed increase growth bush of bush in the area.
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