Banjul City Council has benefitted from five tonnes of charitable donation from the City of Ostend in Belgium.

The donation seeks to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two municipalities.

The donated items include salt tablets, musical instruments, reading glasses and agricultural products.

Speaking during the handing over ceremony at the Gambia Ports Authority on Sunday, Omar Touray, deputy mayor of Banjul welcomed the gifts with delight and called for more of its kind to the city council.

He said since Banjul City Council established ties with Ostend City “we have seen lots of benefits and today we’re here with the (Belgian) navy with lots of goods to give to our hospital because this doesn’t stop to only the city council but the nation at large”.

Commander Gert Laenen, who spoke on behalf of the Council of Ostend City, said the ties between the two cities is based on mutual respect and special cooperation.

“This time the City of Ostend collected about 5 tonnes of materials for different projects including musical instruments for the City of Banjul to set up a school for musicians.

He said the donated reading glasses are for the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital project to help vulnerable people and children.

“We also collected garden equipment and lot of salt for the ice plant in Banjul to help local fishermen to keep the fish fresh.”

Reporting by Adama Makasuba