Hardly a day goes by without news of a land tussle in one community or another. Some of these land issues are so explosive that one fears that violence may break out which may lead to a loss of life.
It is no secret that the issue of land is one of the most sensitive problems which can be a ticking time bomb. Many a war or civil strife have emanated from land issues in which hundreds of people lost their lives.
In The Gambia currently, there is hardly any community in which one will not hear quarrels and altercations about land. Many blame the previous government for bringing a lot of confusion on the issue of land-ownership.
Thus, it was hoped that the current government will make it a priority to end all land disputes by applying just and fair adjudications. It seems though that this government has also found the issue too intractable to solve.
When the government came to office, it set up a land commission which was supposed to look into all the issues surrounding land and its ownership and proffer solutions. That remains to be seen and in fact, one hardly hears of that commission anymore.
But as the issue and problem seem to deepen and spread wider to engulf almost the whole country, tensions rising in different pockets, it is high time that government sought a solution as quickly as possible. This is long overdue.
If for some reason the land commission is unable to proffer any workable solutions, then they should step aside and allow one that has the expertise and integrity to resolve the issue and come up with a policy that will resolve the issue in order to avoid violence which might result to loss of lives.
Having a whole Ministry of Local Government and Lands and a Land Commission, it should not be this difficult; or take this long, to come up with a policy that is fair, just and practical to ensure that the safety of the nation is not compromised.
One cannot make omelet without breaking eggs. If that is what it will take to resolve the issue, let heads roll to guarantee the peace and stability of the country.
