Hon. Lamin J. Sanneh, the National Assembly Member for Brikama South
By Ramatoulie Jawo
Hon. Lamin J. Sanneh, the National Assembly Member for Brikama South, emphasized on Monday the urgent need for a comprehensive land policy.
Hon. Sanneh made these remarks during his contribution to the debate on the State of the Nation Address, 2024, delivered by His Excellency President Adama Barrow.
“The Land Policy is long overdue. I vividly remember in 2022 when we wanted to put something together as a start because these are issues that directly affecting the lives and livelihood of Gambians. We cannot wait for donors to come in. We should look at what we have and how much can we chip in to make sure that this policy is done. Your Excellency, I want to emphasize that we do our best to make sure this policy is out. We need to regulate our land issues because all over the country there are land-related problems that need to be solved,” he said.
He noted that the president’s statement indicated that the land policy is still in its formulation stage, a delay that has been surprisingly prolonged.
“Since 2017, we have been talking about the issues of this land policy. You can imagine the number of Estate Developers we have in this country that are seriously encroaching into our agricultural lands and even our industrial lands. We have talked about the issues of Calista mapping that will help the digital economy to work on digitalizing our own resources and revenues. These are very important, but up to today, nothing has been done about it,” he highlighted.
According to Hon. Sanneh, nearly all crises in The Gambia are land-related. He mentioned that his constituency is currently dealing with ongoing land disputes.
“We have reported the matter to the Ministry of Lands and did everything humanly possible, but we cannot still stop it. When you go to the extreme end of Brikama South, we have a very serious issue, especially when you come to the Dasilami area. This is between us and our neighboring country. Where those contentious areas are currently remaining as a buffer, nobody can use it. That is why I have sent a lot of parliamentary questions regarding those land issues,” he said.