Irate Brufut Villagers Clash With Paramilitary The Independent (Banjul) NEWS July 23, 2002 Posted to the web July 23, 2002 By Seedy Bojang Banjul The acrimony generated in the Brufut land dispute with TAF Housing Scheme reached a new pitch when Brufutarians clashed with paramilitary personnel sent there to bulldoze structures already built on the controversial sites by defiant villagers. A sizeable crowd of villagers engaged in running battles with the paramilitaries. The incident occurred shortly before Friday prayers, when countless numbers of villagers abandoned their prayer to oppose the demolition exercise allegedly masterminded and sponsored by Mustapha Njie, proprietor of TAF Holding Company, who notwithstanding was compensated with several hectares of land belonging to the villagers, by the government. The situation worsened into manic chaos, when the aggrieved villagers stood their ground before being informed that President Jammeh had made a personal endorsement of the housing scheme by offering to lay the foundation stone at the controversial site. However, the village's town crier trumpeted that the whole community should demonstrate their opposition to the move, which would squeeze them off their ancestral land. At 5 pm what looked like the whole community of Brufut converged on the spot to prevent TAF Construction workers and a detachment of paramilitaries from effecting the demolition. The crowd threatened to set a caterpillar ready for the demolition on fire. Youths masqueraded themselves and carried petrol to burn the bulldozer, if the situation is not halted. During the demonstration, a team of government officials headed by the Commissioner of the division and Chief Eric Tunde Janneh arrived at the Alkalos residence to hold a reconciliatory meeting with the elders of the affected wards (Kabilos) of Manneh Kunda and Suba. They announced that they were representing the Department of Local Government and Lands on the disputed land issue. They said the affected wards would be compensated contained in a letter read to them (the full text of which we are reproducing at the tail end of this story). Malamin Manneh secretary general of the Brufut Village Development Committee, warned that the issue cannot be compromised as long as TAF Construction insisted on building on the controversial site. 'We will never sacrifice our limited space for the interest of a self- serving business entrepreneur, at the expense of thousands of people,' he said. He said a site has already been identified for TAF, which is less than 150 meters away from the proposed site. 'If TAF is still sticking to his capitalistic tendency to deprive the poor of their limited resources, we will not welcome President Jammeh' he said. Alhagie Musa Manneh said they prefer to die than capitulate to TAF, which is only investing for gainful profits, while their sons and daughters are still without a plot of land. He said they are neither cooperating with the initiative nor are they interested in the compensation. All the other speakers, including the head of the wards (Kabilos) argued that the proposed project is not in the interest of the villagers, who are the sole owners of the proposed site, including the area covered by the compensation. The letter from the Department of Local Government and Lands to the WD Commissioner dated 17 July 2002. COMPENSATION IN RESPECT OF LAND AT BRUFUT ALLOCATED TO TAF HOLDING LIMITED You will recall that following the allocation of a piece of land at Brufut to TAF Holding Ltd for the development of a housing project, there has been a constant encroachment into it delaying the start of the project. Following numerous meetings to settle the matter amicably, as well as findings on the ground following a site visit I am to inform you that the following decisions have been reached. i) to maintain the allocation to TAF Holding Ltd so that the project can finally start without any further delay ii) to use the newly demarcated BRUFUT, layout to compensate the contending parties as follows a) Manneh Kunda Kabilo 450 plots in Brufut layout plus D170, 000.00 cash compensation b Suba Kabilo 100 plots in Brufut layout plus D102, 872.00 cash compensation In this regard, you are being requested to administer the above compensation package with the assistance of the Chief of Kombo North. Also be informed that His Excellency, the President will lay the foundation stone at the TAF project site during the forth-coming July 22nd celebration. I will be grateful if this is brought to the notice of the people of Brufut on time. Thanking you for you cooperation. Abdoulie Manneh For: Permanent Secretary Cc: Secretary General Permanent Secretary Director General - NIA Inspector General of Police Chief of Kombo North Alkalo of Brufut The Manneh Kunda Kabilo The Suba Kabilo CEO - TAF Holding Ltd Office of The President DOS for The Interior ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~