The torrential rain that gripped the Greater Banjul Area in the early hours of Wednesday morning, September 9, had left streets of Banjul, flooded and forced some families , shopkeepers and canteens owners to spend the rest of the day draining the water away.

The streets of Perseverance, Lancaster and Primet have been seriously flooded  and  are the worst affected streets of Banjul, but no lost of property or life was reported. Yet there was total panic in the city until at around mid-day when the rain came to a stop. Daily Observer visited several streets in Banjul shortly after the rain s but observed that the drainage systems in Banjul where unable to even control the Wednesday  down pour. According to a resident of Lancaster Street, Mary Camara, it was good that it rained  during the day time, noting that it would have been serious if it was at night. She  added that  most of the time  the rain met people at home and that had helped a lot in helping others to create water ways to facilitate the easy passage of rain water.

Mary like many other house wives affected where thinking of how to cook, since all their houses including the kitchens remained  wet. Omar Bah, a taxi driver at the Banjul-Serrekunda car park said the  down pour also caused some  difficulties in the movement of people around the city as some  fell down into the waters, causing them minor wounds.

This reporter  also caught up with one Awa Saine, a resident of Serrekunda  who said they have been praying for more rains and that  God  has answered to their  prayers . She prayed for God's guidance to prevent the  rain  from  causing havoc. Saidou Jallow, a businessman around the Gamtel Head Office in Banjul,  relayed the cause of the flood to  lack of enough drainage and suggested that if there are proper drainage systems, there would be no floods.

David Dawda Jones, the public relations officer of the Banjul City Council, described the situation as waterlocks, noting that it has not yet reached to flood level. He said the water locks of the drainage system are cause by the bad attitude of people for the fact that they always dump rubbish inside the water ways. "These will definitely hamper the easy flow of waters from the streets through the drainages," he said.

PRO Jones then reaffirmed their commitment to serve the people. He then stated that the municipal engineers are working very hard to upgrade the standard of the drainage system. According to him, they are planning to sensitise the people of Banjul on illegal dumping in the gutters. He said this would be in conjunction with the National Environment Agency. "However, The Gambia is not the only country been affected by heavy rains  or floods, but  that almost all  of the sub-region has been affected. Environment experts have attributed the heavy down pour to climate change," he concluded.