By Tabora Bojang
Lands minister Hamat Bah has vowed to publicly disclose findings of a government task force formed to investigate allocations of land in Kamalo to private businessmen and other individuals.
In September 2023, the Ministry of Lands announced the suspension of all land development activities at Kamalo Proper and Kamalo Extension Industrial Layouts situated along the Banjul-Serekunda Highway.
A multi sectoral taskforce was commissioned by the government to conduct a comprehensive review to examine the demarcation and allocation processes at the layout. The process was triggered by public outcry that the allocations didn’t follow due process.
Minister Bah who appeared before lawmakers Wednesday was asked to confirm whether the investigation surrounding the allocations of parts of Kamalo has commenced and the state of the investigation.
He said the investigation is completed and the report was submitted to his ministry. “We sought legal opinion from the Ministry of Justice. And we have now received that [legal opinion] and started deliberating on the report. Hopefully by next week we will publish it and all the actions that will be taken in the outcome of this investigation.”
Addressing a press conference in June this year, Minister Bah disclosed that all allocations of plots of land to businesses at Kamalo Industrial Layout Phase 2 were “nullified” as recommended by presidential inquiry which revealed serious irregularities in the allocation processes. He said the taskforce discovered anomalies in the allocations.
He alleged that some individual businesses were allocated more than one plot while others were allocated without evidence of registration certificate or receipt showing they have paid the D50,000 application fee contrary to the dictates of the law.
Minister Bah said because of these irregularities, the inquiry has recommended that the entire Kamalo allocation be revoked because all the 28 allocations didn’t follow due process and there was no evidence provided to them that environmental impact assessment was conducted either by the ministry or the allottees before allocations were done.