Culled from http://www.africanews.org/west/gambia/stories/


The Independent (Banjul)
June 26, 2000
By NB Daffeh From CRD

Banjul - The Alkalo of Barajally, Foday Jawara has said that the
rice fields that were seized from them by the current government
did not belong to ex-president Sir Dawda Jawara, a native of the
village.

The 79-year-old Alkalo claimed that instead, the lands belonged to
the Jawara clan and the village. He described the government's
confiscation of the fields as 'an unnecessary and unsympathetic
show of force.'

The Alkalo pointed out that since President Jammeh came to
power, the first land his government seized from the remote
Barajally were 70 rice fields. He revealed that the rice fields that
separate Barajally from the river were the only suitable fields the
village was having.

The Alkalo further said that the former president never owned the
confiscated lands. 'In 1972 President Jawara came to the villagers
and asked them to borrow him a piece of land where he would
cultivate rice and the village agreed to allocate the land presently
confiscated,' he explained to The Independent. He said the ex-
president was allocated the land because he was also a citizen of
Barajally. 'He was not using the land frequently, instead we used it
more,' he said. He further said the former president fenced the field
with rails to protect it from animal attacks and was using a water
supply system to irrigate the rice fields locally called farrows.

He maintained that since the government confiscated the fields,
problems have set in for the village. The confiscation has denied
them the chance to continue reaping 1,500 bags of rice from the
fields, he complained. 'Now the land is useless since the
government is not allowing us to farm on it while it is not being
used by them,' he claimed.

Foday Kambai, a native of the village said they have written several
letters to government, informing them that the seized lands did not
belong to the ex-president. The letters, he revealed, also sought
permission from the government for villagers to use the land. 'They
never replied to the letters,' Mr. Kambai claimed. 'Instead they
removed the machine that used to supply water to the fields.' He
further said the villagers are now used to crossing the river in order
to cultivate rice on the other side.

The Alkalo and other elders of the village have also expressed
dissatisfaction over the government's apparent negligence of
Barajally. They complained about lack of clean water. 'The solar
system that used to operate our taps was removed by unknown
people two years ago,' some of them alleged.

'We now depend on only one well, which sometimes dry up and we
are forced to go to the river to fetch water.'

They called on charitable organisations and local NGOs to assist
the village by re-installing the solar system for clean and safe water.

The village has no health centre or clinic.


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Copyright (c) 2000 The Independent. Distributed via Africa News
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