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Gambia's Minister of Forestry and Environment, Jato Sillah, has called for a better management of the environment in a bid to understand the extent of what needs to be done to procure solutions to the myriad of environmental challenges facing the capital city, Banjul.

Sillah made the call after his tour of the capital city during which he visited areas considered "highly vulnerable" to environmental mismanagement.

According to him, the heavy floods in the city could be attributed to climate change with the soil unable to hold so much water.

He called for collaboration between his ministry and the Banjul City Council (BCC) to closely monitor the situation and proffer necessary solutions.

Sillah frowned at the indiscriminate dumping of wastes in many spots in the city, saying 'if you walk through Banjul, you'd see that there is a lot of work to be done to keep the city clean.'

He urged the youth in city to be involved in cleaning activities, and called for awareness and sensitization programmes on both radio and television in this direction.

He noted that such programmes should motivate Banjul youths to contribute their quota to ensure that all the streets and waterways of Banjul remained clean.

The minister further said that a lot of work still had to be done to ensure that coastal erosion was curtailed to avert their devastating effects on residential houses.

He suggested that a dyke be built along the coastal areas this year before the onset of the rainy season.

Speaking earlier, Hon. Samba Faal, the Lord mayor of Banjul, noted that the environmental challenges facing the capital city were enormous.