By Tabora Bojang
The head of investment and product development at the Gambia Tourism Board, Sang Sylva, has confirmed that some 19 Kololi women were asked to vacate a land they have been gardening to allow for the construction of a 5-star hotel at the Kotu TDA.
Contacted by The Standard to explain the situation about the women who have complained about losing their livelihoods after being asked to leave the land, Mr Sylva said each of the women has been given or allocated D10.000 by the investor. “It is not a compensation for them because these women from the neighbourhood of the TDA have been utilising the land because there was no development at the time. We did [pay the money] out of courtesy to help them but not that we have to pay them,” Sylva stated.
He disclosed that the land is allocated to one Sourakhata Tirera and his partners for the construction of the Crestone 5-star hotel with 150 rooms.
The Kololi women gardeners held a press conference Monday and accused the GT Board of unfair removal from the land that they have been tilling for 40 years. The women further alleged that some of their garden products which they depended on for their livelihoods were destroyed in the process.
But Sylva said because of that very fact that these gardeners have been cultivating the land for many years without obstruction, they considered it as their property whereas all lands belong to the state and GTB has been given the mandate to allocate the TDA for the development of tourism related facilities.
