By Tabora Bojang
The operational method of the Department of Forestry has once again come under scrutiny after armed soldiers joined the Department to crack down on charcoal vendors, seizing large quantities from shopkeepers they accused of selling charcoal without license, in Nuimi. Ever since the appointment of a senior military officer as director of Forestry, there have been concerns about the suitability of the army for such a role.
Over the weekend, a number of shopkeepers in Mbollet-Ba contacted The Standard alleging that soldiers with arms have been making rounds in the area, seizing bags of charcoal from shopkeepers.
According to one of the shopkeepers, the soldiers accused them of violating the law by selling charcoal without license. “This comes as a surprise to us because we have been selling charcoal for many years but we were never informed that we needed a license to sell,” one of the affected shopkeepers informed The Standard.
He complained that all the confiscated charcoal is taken to the soldiers’ camp in Essau.”We went there to claim our goods but the soldiers refused to give us back the charcoal insisting that we needed to get licensed before we are allowed to sell charcoal in our shops,” another shopkeeper cried.
When contacted for explanation about the involvement of soldiers in this exercise, army spokesperson Captain Kemo Kanuteh confirmed that soldiers now work with the Department of Forestry officials but he was not in position to speak on the matter.
However he referred us to the communications officer at the Department of Forestry Sulayman Jagne, who confirmed the confiscation of charcoal from the shopkeepers.
He claimed that these shopkeepers have failed to clarify the sources of the charcoal they are selling and that is the reason it was taken away from them.
“Their sources are not clear and there are people in that area illegally burning and supplying charcoal to these shopkeepers. So we want to make a stop to those illegal activities in the Gambia, not only in Nuimi,” Jagne said.
He explained that charcoal production has been banned in The Gambia since 1979 and that the Department of Forestry has not been issuing any license for its production. “However, we are issuing licenses for charcoal vending but none of these shopkeepers produced any authentic document on the origins of the charcoal they are selling and that is why we seized them”, he explained.
On the involvement of soldiers, Jagne explained; “Our director is a soldier and we have a special unit at the Department of Forestry called Operations Unit responsible for this kind of things. The soldiers did not act alone; they went with our technical team members to help our rangers to do the reinforcement.”
Jagne added that they had a lot of threatening experiences during such exercises in the past hence the need for the soldiers to be armed. He said before the appointment of the new director, there were no soldiers attached to the Department. “The director is a soldier and the unit is created to enhance enforcement of the law,” he said.
Asked about the fate of the charcoal once the suspects are taken before the court, the Forestry official said all seized charcoal is sold and the money put into state coffers.
