BANJUL, Gambia

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) donated food items to needy Gambians on Thursday.

The development agency made the donation through the Fatoumatta Bah Barrow Foundation, a non-profit charity organization created by Gambia’s First Lady, Fatoumatta Bah Barrow.

One of the beneficiary organizations of the donation is the country’s only psychiatric hospital, Tanka Tanka.

The food items included 200 25-kilogram bags of rice and 20 50kg bags of sugar as well as 20 cartons of dates, eight cartons of tea, 50 cartons of cooking oil and 50 cartons of spaghetti.

This is one of the many donations TIKA has made to Gambians through several state institutions since it opened its office in Gambia barely a year ago.

“As TIKA has a coordination office in Gambia, now we expect more development cooperation in the coming years,” said Mehmet Akif Eyigun, TIKA’s resident representative in Gambia.

The presentation ceremony was witnessed by permanent secretary at the First Lady’s office Alima Tambadou, the chair of the First Lady’s foundation Fatou Ceesay and staff of TIKA. Also present was the Turkish Ambassador, Ismail Sefa Yuceer.

Yuceer said there could not be a better time to make a donation to needy people than Ramadan.

“We are sure that this donation will go to the neediest people in Gambia,” he said.

“Turkey is committed to the development agenda of Gambia. Turkey supports Gambia in so many areas, including capacity building and financial support.”

At the country’s donor meeting in Brussels last year, Turkey donated $500,000 in support of President Adama Barrow’s five-year development agenda, said Yuceer.