Foroyaa has received complaints that well-constructed buildings have been demolished, and has sent a reporter there to see the outcome of the demolition, which left rubble of well-constructed buildings lying about.
In an interview with Halifa Sallah on the subject matter, he said that a responsible government should have established a transformative policy on land disputes that the Coalition inherited from the previous administration when the change occurred after the 2016 election.
He said he has made his position clear on many platforms that the housing and land disputes should have been reviewed, from being handled as court matters but as a policy matter to the satisfaction of all parties concerned.
He emphasised that a government should exist for the people and see it as its duty to create the enabling environment that addresses public concerns without any hitches.
Hence, he continued, a government that inherited land disputes should have a complaints and claims division of a land commission for the public to lodge their complaints for resolution.
A responsive government would have provided an alternative for the occupants of land illegally settled on, who may have acquired it from an estate agent and built on it.
In cases of disputes, those who have the means should compensate those who have land claims. The compensation should also be facilitated and covered by a transformative land policy. Land policy should also provide for a land compensation fund that would enable those who have acquired and built on disputed land to be compensated. They should have their settlement of claims from the lands fund while they pay back according to their capacity, as agreed based on a proper evaluation of their means to pay.
He concluded that no government that is responsive to the needs of the people would ever allow a well-constructed shelter to be demolished without constructing another shelter in advance to house the occupants should the demolition be done for the building of roads, and providing other services. He said that the government should revisit its land policy and ensure that it exists to wipe out tears and not to make hard-working men and women of The Gambia houseless. That is the most inhumane and degrading treatment a hardworking family could be subjected to.
