By Nasratu Kargbo
People dwelling around the Old Airfield at Hastings have been ordered to vacate the area before the end of this October. The order was issued by the Ministry of Transport and Aviation in a Press release dated 12 October 2022 in which it says it ‘’will take full possession of all such land on Tuesday, 1st November 2022”.
The ministry explained that all persons that claim to be legal owners of the land around the area had earlier been asked to submit their relevant documents to the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning to justify their claims, but that only one person complied.
The government through the transport ministry early this year issued a press release suspending all construction work in the area until a special sub-committee formed to look into the contentious issue, submitted its report.
All those who have claimed to own a piece of land at the site are asked to ensure that they present all relevant documents at the Ministry of Housing and Country Planning to serve as evidence for their claims.
It explained that “the attention of the Ministry of Transport and Aviation has been drawn to claims and counter claims by individuals and corporate bodies to ownership of piece and parcels of Land…around the Hastings Airfields”
It could be recalled that the Head for Truck Owners and Garages at Hastings Sheku Kanneh earlier told Politico about how they had asked that the government find them a permanent location.
Explaining how they found themselves at the airfield, Kanneh said that from their first Shell locality, they were relocated to Texaco and later to Hastings where they currently work. He said they were brought to the airfield community by the previous government on the grounds that the site belongs to the transport ministry.
Another person Politico reached out to at the time, was Mohamed Conteh who was farming very close to the airfield so as to secure the place, he justified his farming activity in the area saying that the place was bushy and served as a hiding place for robbers.
He had argued that the houses built around the airfield do not fall under that category, revealing that they had concerns with the area, but that the then Minister of Lands, Housing and Country Planning Dr. Dennis Sandy had settled their problem.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (14/10/22)
