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Momodou
Denmark
11823 Posts |
 Posted - 09 Nov 2009 : 21:51:35
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Controversy around Sand Mining or Quarrying
Which Company is Quarrying at Tujereng, Sambuya and Kachube?
Construction of buildings in the Urban area depend largely on sand excavated from the beach. Many investors have purchased trucks which specialize in the transportation of sand to building sites. According to the Mines and Quarries Act a quarrying permit gives its holder, subject to the payment of Royalties , the right to carry on temporary small quarrying for building material in the area. It adds that a quarrying permit does not give the holder an exclusive right to quarry for building material or materials in that area.
Many trucks which transport the sand have been paying dues for years but do not even have a permanent garage to park. A space near the Bakoteh bridge has been used over the years as a temporary garage. It is called Tippa Garage. The controversy surrounding what is commonly called sand mining but legally called quarrying arose when there areas which were previously opened for quarrying became closed, namely, Tujereng, Sambuya and Kachube. They were asked to move to Kartong to get sand. Initially, some felt that the environmental threat posed by quarrying to Gambia’s coast line which led to the nourishing of the beach in the Banjul and Fajara area, may have been responsible for the instruction to stop quarrying at the places mentioned. What is however strange is that after all transports were stopped people began to see sand being transported by trucks again from the so-called closed sites. The other drivers find it very difficult to understand why some people have been given exclusive right to excavate sand from Tujereng, Sambuya and Kachube while the others are restricted to Kartong. Speculation is rife and the office of the President needs to do full enquiry and issue a Press Release to clarify what appears as duplicity in the issuing of authority to excavate sand from those sites. Foroyaa is conducting its investigation and will inform the stake holders in particular and the public at large on developments. There is no room for discrimination in the delivery of public services or the issuing of public licences.
Source: Foroyaa Online
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