By Omar Bah
The Councillor of Sanyang Ward Botto Bojang has rejected claims by Gambia Ports Authority Managing Director Ousman Jobarteh that Sanyang village has allocated land for the Deep Sea Port project.
“Officially, Sanyang have never allocated any land to the GPA,” Bojang said in a statement shared with The Standard.
“We only identified a land for the construction of the port and its allocation is anchored on the signing of the Letter of Agreement between the community and GPA.”
Appearing on West Coast Radio’s Coffee Time recently, MD Jobarteh said the community of Sanyang had “finally allocated land to government for the construction of the Deep Sea Port.”
But Councillor Bojang dismissed the assertion calling it a surprise. “This is not true. We have never allocated any piece of land to GPA for the construction of the project. We only identified the land and if they are interested, we can sign the letter of agreement and move on,” he said.
Bojang added that his office consulted Sanyang Bulunda elders to verify Jobarteh’s claim, but none confirmed any allocation.
The councillor also rejected any suggestion that compensation had been issued.
“With regards to compensation, the community of Sanyang have not received a single dime from the GPA. So far, I can tell you that no authority in Sanyang have received any form of compensation from either the Government or GPA. Nothing has been paid to the community,” he stated.
