By Louise Jobe
The rainy season has begun and farmers are expected to cultivate their crops. Farmers residing in Nioro Jarrol cannot farm this year because of a restrictive order by the Foni Jarrol District Tribunal barring them (farmers) from cultivating the disputed land until the case is decided.
The tribunal ordered that the farmlands should not be used by anyone, prohibiting the residents of Nioro Jarrol from farming on the land. Nioro Jarrol came into being in 2012, according to the residents of the area (Nioro Jarrol).
The farmers are worried that this will have a long lasting impact on them because they depend on farming to survive. They express fear that life will become unbearable for them if they have no place to farm.
The dispute before the Tribunal is regarding ownership of the farmlands. The residents of Nioro are claiming ownership of the area because they were given the area to settle and farm by the people of Jarrol. They have built cement houses and other structures there. The communities of Arankone and Jarrol both claimed ownership of the area called Nioro Jarrol. The people of Jarrol on the other hand are claiming that the land was not given to the people of Niorro Jarrol to own, but they were only given permission to farm and reside.
Some residents of Nioro Jarrol tried to clear the land in preparation of the rainy season, but they were arrested and are now facing trial at the Magistrate’s Court for defying the Tribunal’s order.
Bala Jobe, a resident and family head, said he was one of those arrested and is now facing prosecution for clearing the land in preparation for the rainy season.
“We are farmers and we all depend on it for survival. We feed our families from the farms and earn a living from farming,” Jobe said.
Bala Jobeadded: “We are worried. We are going to be affected. We are farmers. We came here as farmers and we were given the area to stay and farm. The former Chief, who is the father of the current Chief, was a witness. Here we are. We cannot farm.”
The residents of NioroJarrol are living in sadness and they want an immediate solution to their predicament.
Abdoulie Jobe said after they received the order of the Tribunal prohibiting them from farming on the land, they went to neighbouring communities to get land to farm.
“When we were asked to stop doing any work or activities on the farmlands, we knew that we cannot stay without farming. We went to one of our neighbouring villages and borrowed farms from them to cultivate our crops. Some people from Jarrol went to that village and asked them to take their farms from us,” Abdoulie Jobe explained.
Abdoulie Jobe said the idea was to get lands to farm pending the determination of the case before the District Tribunal in Jarrol. He added that they got it but the people of Jarrol went there to spoil their chance.
“We are very much worried about the situation because we do not know how we are going to survive. If you asked a farmer to stop farming, how do you expect him to survive? We want the authorities to consider our plight,” Abdoulie Jobe said.
Currently, the farmers are sitting at home hopeless. They want to farm, but they do not have access to any farmlands.
