By Seedy Jobe
A Gambian living in the Netherlands has appealed to President Adama Barrow to intervene in an eight-year land dispute between the neighboring communities of Sankulay Kunda and Yerrobili Kunda (YBK) in Lower Fulladu West, Central River Region, warning that the unresolved conflict continues to strain relations between the two villages.
In a letter addressed to the president and shared with Kerr Fatou, Ebrima Jaiteh, a former sergeant with the Gambia Police Force, urged the government to take immediate steps to resolve the dispute, which he said began around 2017 over sand mining and has since escalated into a broader conflict marked by vandalism, police intervention, and repeated but unsuccessful mediation efforts.
Mr. Jaiteh, who served for more than 13 years in the Crime Investigation Department before resigning in 2024 and relocating to the Netherlands, described the dispute as particularly troubling because the two communities have long-standing family, educational, and social ties.
“The two villages are closely connected through marriage, schooling, and kinship,” he wrote, arguing that prolonged conflict threatens relationships that have existed for generations.
According to Mr. Jaiteh, several attempts to broker a settlement have failed. In 2024, he said, he organized a meeting between elders from both communities and sent financial support from the Netherlands to facilitate the dialogue. The discussions, however, ended without an agreement, and the matter was later referred to the regional governor in Janjanbureh.
He said he also reached out to community leaders in Yerrobili Kunda in an effort to encourage further dialogue, but those initiatives did not produce a lasting resolution.
As tensions mounted, Mr. Jaiteh said, the Alkalo of Sankulay Kunda—who is also his stepfather—reported the matter to the district chief. The village leadership and members of the Village Development Committee later traveled to Janjanbureh to brief the regional governor, Aba Sanyang.
Following that meeting, Mr. Jaiteh said, the governor ordered an immediate suspension of sand mining in the disputed area and directed police intervention officers to prevent further mining and development activities.
He said he continued advocating for an amicable settlement between 2017 and 2023, maintaining regular contact with community leaders despite living abroad.
In the letter, Mr. Jaiteh said he had sought the assistance of individuals he believed could help bring both sides together for negotiations, but those efforts had yet to produce meaningful dialogue.
He also referred to a 2025 incident in which youths from Yerrobili Kunda allegedly vandalized a water resources board in Sankulay Kunda. The matter was handled by police in Janjanbureh, he said, but no broader settlement followed.
Mr. Jaiteh said village authorities in Sankulay Kunda had also written to the Ministry of Lands and the governor of the Central River Region but had not received any substantive response.
While acknowledging that litigation remains an option, he argued that court proceedings should be considered only as a last resort because of the close social and familial ties between the two communities.
“To take this matter to the court is not the wish of the community of Sankulay Kunda. It is to bring unification and to bring the communities together as the way they were living before their conflict,” he said.
Mr. Jaiteh emphasized that his appeal was motivated by concern for community cohesion rather than politics. He said publishing the letter through the Gambian media was the most effective way to bring the matter to the president’s attention while he remains in the Netherlands.
In his appeal, he urged President Barrow to direct the Ministry of Lands to act swiftly before the dispute deteriorates further.
“Therefore, Mr. President, I will be very happy if you take immediate action towards ending the dispute between my communities and others which are also affected in land disputes,” Mr. Jaiteh wrote.
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