Culled from the Observer.
Makes an interesting reading as it seems that TAF Njie too has got the "
BUG". That disease of greed that unfortunately seems to be gripping the
Gambian Business community.
Just because The Gambia is unfortunate to be lumbered with a bunch of
idiots as a government should not warranty the few Gambian Businesses we
all look up to, to become self-obsessed with making millions whilst
trampling on the rights of poor innocent citizens.
Tuesday, July 3, 2001
BRUFUT ELDERS PETITION
JAMMEH OVER TAF LAND
ALLOCATION
The elders and people of Brufut, Manneh Kunda Kabilo,
last week
petitioned President Jammeh over the allocation of a
swathe of
land which they claimed belonged to the community of
Manneh
Kunda Kabilo in Brufut to Taf Construction by the
Department of
State for Local Government and Lands. The petition
which was
signed and thumbprinted by Kajali Manneh, Kijera
Manneh,
Amadou Manneh, Kebba Musa Manneh, Omar Manneh and
Kebba Jatta was also sent to all secretaries of state,
commissioner,
Western Division, director of lands and surveys, seyfo
of Kombo
North and the alkalo of Brufut.
Below is the full text of the petition: Your
Excellency, We feel
deeply honoured to bring to your attention a serious
land problem
currently taking place between the Manneh Kunda Kabilo
of
Brufut and the local government authorities. The past
few weeks
have witnessed serious confrontations between the
people of
Manneh Kunda Kabilo, local government authorities and
Mustapha Njie of Taf Construction. After the
controversial
housing scheme called Operation House the Nation at
Bakau
failed, Taf Construction has again been allocated a
vast stretch of
our land in Brufut by the local government authorities.
We learnt
of this allocation by demarcation pegs without any
prior
consultation between the relevant authorities and
traditional
landowners.
On seeing the pegs, we made appointments and met first
with the
director of lands and surveys and then with the
secretary of state
for local government and lands on February 26, 2001. At
both
meetings, we were informed that the area was allocated
to Taf
Construction and on each occasion, we expressed our
concerns
about the allocation and appealed for a reconsideration
of the
decision as we had already allocated the land area to
some 300
youths of the Kabilo who are still in family compounds
and are
without land to build houses for their families.
The meeting with local government and lands secretary
concluded
with an agreement that a technical team would be sent
within the
shortest possible time to further discuss the issue
with us. What
we saw the following day (February 27, 2001) and indeed
to our
dismay, was a team from Taf Construction putting up
more
demarcation pegs in the area. This was baffling and
irritating to us,
as it was inconsistent with the agreement we had
previously with
the secretary of state for local government and lands.
After all
these, we were invited to a meeting at the tribunal of
the district
Seyfo on Sunday March 11, 2001. In attendance at this
meeting
were the commissioner of Western Division, the district
seyfo, the
National Assembly member for Kombo North, Brufut
village alkalo,
elders of Manneh Kunda Kabilo, representatives of
Brufut Village
Development Committee and a representative from Taf
Construction amongst others.
At this meeting, we were told that government has
allocated our
land to Mustapha Njie as compensation for the land that
was
previously allocated to him in connection with
Operation House
the Nation but subsequently withdrawn. We expressed our
concerns and total rejection of the project because we
believed it
was unacceptable for a single man to benefit at the
expense of
thousands of underprivileged people of Brufut. The
meeting ended
in a stalemate.
On March 18, 2001, we were invited to another meeting
at the
tribunal of the district Seyfo. This meeting was
attended by the
commissioner of Western Division, the district seyfo,
the National
Assembly member for Kombo North, an officer from the
Department of Physical Planning, alkalo of Brufut,
Manneh Kunda
Kabilo representatives and a representative from Taf
Construction.
At the meeting, we again emphasised and reaffirmed our
concerns
over the landlessness of our youths and the negative
impact the
project would have on the livelihood of over 400
households in
Manneh Kunda.
Here at stake is the enrichment of one person and the
future
livelihood of over 2000 persons who cannot afford a
house in the
scheme. This meeting too ended in a stalemate. On hand,
Your
Excellency, we wish to inform you that vast areas of
Brufut land
have already been allocated; instances of such
allocations are the
Brusubi Housing Scheme on the East, TDA on the North
and the
Wildlife Reserve Area on the West of Brufut. In
essence, we are
left with very little land to accommodate our coming
generations
and it is unbearably difficult for us to create a
gloomy future of our
children and enrich a single person. We have the
confidence that
your government is by the people and for the people and
the
livelihood of a people is more paramount to you than an
individual
economic interest.
Your Excellency, we are bringing this crisis to your
attention for
your quick intervention in the light of the concern you
have for the
poor and downtrodden. If the government were to have
educational or other development projects that would go
directly
to benefit the people, definitely we would not have had
any
objection but giving our land to a single rich man just
to make him
richer is disheartening and intolerable. Finally, while
we await your
intervention, we wish to assure you that we will remain
peaceful
and law-abiding until justice takes its course. We
thank you in
advance for your due consideration of this matter.
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