(Photo: Leeral Media Gambia)
By Buba Gagigo
The demolition of over 300 compound has resulted in violent clashes between youth and PIU officers accompanying the Department of Physical Planning carrying out the demolition.
During interview by Leeral Media Gambia online on Tuesday, a group of youth present and protesting the decision were overheard making utterances.
One of the protesters, Abdoulie Jeng said they were not given any prior notice about the demolition by the Department of Physical Planning.
“We bought this land from the Manjang Kunda family in Yundum. We have all our documents. Some months ago, they called us from the headquarters in Banjul. We went there and they called Physical Planning to bring their layout plan to show that the government owns this place. This land is owned by civilians. It’s not a government land. How did Physical Planning have power to come and demolished this place? That’s what I don’t understand. This land is 300m by 500m. I cannot say how many compounds are here, but it’s more than 300 compounds which they have all demolished today. We have never received any notice from them. We just saw the PIU today and they started demolishing. A lot of our youth are in hospital because they sprayed them with teargas,” he told Leeral Media Gambia.
The Online TV reported that the demolition was carried out with a Bulldozer belonging to AREZKI company at around 10am.
However, a safety officer working at AREZKI told Leeral TV that Physical Planning only borrowed their Bulldozer but did not inform them the purpose it would be used for.
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