By Tabora Bojang
Alpha Barry, whose company Alpha Kapital was the Receiver of assets seized from former president Yahya Jammeh, has said he received instructions from the ministerial taskforce committee on Jammeh assets to cancel the sale of certain properties and returned them to government.
Appearing before the parliamentary enquiry Monday, Barry said he had received a letter from the ministerial taskforce committee in charge of the implementation of the adverse findings of the Janneh Commission of Inquiry dated August 25 2021 instructing him to hand over the Soma Shopping Complex and the Busumbala Poultry Farm to the Ministry of Lands and the Ministry of Agriculture respectively.
He said the Soma Shopping Complex was occupied by Reliance Financial Services and 12 other tenants who were paying rents to his firm before they transferred the properties to the Ministry of Lands.
“This property was to be sold and it had a guide price of D15 million. But we got instructions to return it to government,” Barry said.
He revealed that there were other properties which were initially earmarked for sale but were subsequently handed over to the government. “There were other properties in Yundum-Jabang, Barra and Kuloro- AB&C which were returned to the government,” he said.
Asked whether these properties were returned because there were no bidders, Barry replied that they were returned on the instructions from the ministerial taskforce issued through the Attorney General and Minister of Justice. He further disclosed that there was another property situated opposite Alliance Francaise where his firm was making rent collections until the property was sold.
According to the Receiver, there was another retail complex situated close to the Traffic Lights, Kairaba Avenue where his firm is still collecting rent. Mr Barry said there was another property situated at Traffic Lghts called Sahara Complex but that property was never put under his receivership. This property, he added, is now a matter of litigation as someone is claiming ownership of it.
Sindola hotel
Barry further informed probing lawmakers that the Sindola Hotel situated in Kanilai has been leased and that his firm is still receiving money from it annually. He did not disclose the amount being collected.
Futurelec Building
Mr Barry also disclosed that the Futurelec Building located in Kotu was sold to the Central Bank of The Gambia for D100 million, after he received directives from the Attorney General to sell the property and he complied with the order to sell it to CBG.
But according to Barry some people claiming to be the original owners of this property have now taken the matter to the court trying to take back the property and that he is party to this court case which is ongoing.
