By Nasratu Kargbo
The Complaints Committee on Land Disputes in the Western Area has revealed that 40% of 305 cases have been investigated so far. The Chairman of the Committee Alhaji Murtada Mohammed Sesay revealed that 40% of the cases that the committee has examined have helped them “identify entrenched system related issues” which according to him can and must be addressed as matters of great importance.
The Committee has assured the general public of its continuous effort to look into all the cases as soon as they can, and stated that they are particularly working with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning in order to complete and implement the recommendations that will emanate from the committee’s work.
The committee in a press statement said even though immense progress has been made, there is more work to be done but again stated it has enough evidence- based information not only to recommend solution for the disputes but most significantly on several systematic and institutional issues which they have identified and believe were greatly responsible for the “unacceptable happenings’’ in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning (MLHCP) during the committee’s mandate period of April 2018 to January 2021. The Committee is of the notion that if both strategic and operational issues are properly addressed at the Lands Ministry, that will contribute immensely in changing the institution to a high-performance public service.
Speaking on the methodology the committee used, Alhaji Sesay explained they have made sure all complaints received were processed in order to create “serially numbered case files”. Each file was made available to the committee members, who contributed to each case. The complainants were given acknowledgement slip, which has the case number together with all documents received; to prevent confusion or doubts.
Complainants were also invited for hearing sessions in order to aid clarification and the committee also visited sites for better understanding of the case. These are amongst the many other methodologies used by the committee.
The chairman said he has observed that there is some “impunity” going on by persons who think they are above the law. He warned such individuals that proceed to erect or construct development on a disputed land, will not use it as a criterion for resolution of the matter.
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