By Madiba Singhateh
The President of TRAHASS Traditional Healers Assembly in the Gambia has said that they “should rather reserve our land than to de-gazzette them”.
Mr. Salieu Puye, the former Governor of Lower River Region, who witnessed the first proposed de-gazetting of the forest, made this statement while speaking to Foroyaa’s Weekly Radio Programme on Environmental Awareness.
“I was the governor when the then head of state, Yahya Jammeh sent some forest official because the community of the new settlement of Jabisa went to the president and told him that they don’t want to settle inland, because they were afraid they would be attacked by monkeys and other animals. Therefore, they want to settle along the road side,” he explained, noting that he could not bar them from relocating because the president had endorsed their request.
He added that forest officials later came and allocated small piece of land to them.
Speaking further, he said, “We are talking about climate change mitigation, adaptation, we should be talking about how to control our biodiversity therefore we should not deforest areas. This should not have been done.”
He noted that Gambians always theorize things without practicalizing it.
“I have said it in many interviews and I will say it again, Gambians are very good at writing very good proposals but at end of the day, it all gather dust because they will never be implemented,” he said.
“For me I have been on the whole show of Nyanni Berri in 2016 – 2017 before the end of that regime.
What Kemo Fatty of Green up is talking about is true, it is the community who owns the land. If it is going to be degazetted, they should return it back to habitual owners who gave it to them for the purpose of forest.”
Mr. Puye said if land degradation is a matter of concern in this country, it is wise to be degazetting them.
He said lots of environmental impacts is happening especially climate change which is affecting forest biodiversity’s throughout the country.
Mr Puye said in the wake forest degradation and degazetting, their work becomes difficult as Traditional healers because most plant species are becoming endangered. He called on the government and the ministry to reserve more lands than degazetting them.
