AGRIC MINISTER SAYS FARMERS AFFECTED BY BORDER ISSUES TO RETURN TO WORK SOON
The Minister of Agriculture, Demba Sabally, yesterday confirmed to The Standard that the more 130 Gambian farmers asked to leave their farms by the Senegalese security forces who perceived the lands to be within Senegal, will return to their farms hopefully by the end of this week.
The border crisis flared up last month after Senegalese soldiers demolished the Bulock military fence claiming it falls within Senegalese territory.
Since then, a number of Gambian farming communities along the borders have been ordered by the Senegalese gendarmerie to vacate their ancestral farmlands.
Farming communities in Lower Fulladu, Upper Fulladu, Jarra West, Jarra Central and Gambissara in URR all said they encountered Senegalese security forces on their farms who tried to stop them from working, prompting fears they could lose crops they have already planted.
Asked about his ministry’s position on the concerns of the farmers, Minister Sabally who has already appeared before lawmakers to brief them about the crisis, said his ministry is closely monitoring the issue and bilateral engagements are ongoing to resolve it as soon as possible.
According to Minister Sabally, the directive issued by the Senegalese affected 54 farmers in the Lower River Region, 23 farmers in the Central River Region South with an estimated 213 hectares of farm land and about 60 farmers in the Central River Region North. He revealed that the estimated farmland affected in CRR North is about 171 hectares.
He said his ministry has been making efforts through the Border Commission chaired by the Secretary General and Head of Civil Service to ensure calm is restored among farming communities and to allow farmers continue their farming operations until the crisis is resolved. “We think that our farmers will get back to their lands by the end of the week,” Sabally said. “Apparently, most of the farmers are back but it is just once a while they get asked by the Senegalese to vacate and they comply which I think is the right thing to do because both governments are working diplomatically on resolving it amicably. We think officially it will end by the end of the week,” he said.
Source: The Standard
