By Kebba ANSU Manneh
Scores of prominent Gambian Environmentalists and conservationists have condemned the selling of 10 hectares of land situated along the coast to the Government of the United States of America, where it hopes to build a state-of-the-art new US Embassy in Gambia.
They called on the Gambian Government to immediately rescind the land allocation deal with the government of the United States of America, arguing that the selling of the 10 hectares of land hosting the West African Livestock Innovation Center (WALIC) and part of Bijilo Forest Park to build a new US Embassy is a threat to the fauna and flora of the country as well to future generation Gambians.
Their reactions come on the heels of a press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 28th October 2022, notifying Gambians that The Government of President Adama Barrow has decided to sell the said land to the Government of the United States of America, where it planned to build the state-of-the-art US Embassy in Gambia.
Famara Drammeh, Climate Change, Environment, and Social Activist based in the US blamed the Ministry of Environment, the Department of Forestry, and the National Environmental Agency (NEA) for allowing the situation. He argued that these are the institutions vested with the responsibility to advise the government regarding the situation and could have advised the government not to venture into selling WALIC and part of the Bijilo Forest Park.
“The recent move by the Government of The Gambia to allocate 10 hectares of land to the American Embassy in The Gambia is a continuation of the destruction that started 5 years ago and sadly our institutions entrusted with the mandate to protect our remaining flora and fauna are all muted because they have participated one way or another in destroying one of the hotspots for ecotourism and biodiversity in the country.
Many University students in The Gambia and abroad have conducted their thesis research and surveys in Bijilo Forest and the area continues to play an important role in building the resilience of the community of Kerr Serign, Bijilo, Brufut against the impacts of climate change including natural disasters( windstorm), Nfamara Drammeh observed.
He added: “Bijilo Forest Park was established in 1952, and the ITC complex in 1982 – these areas formed the same ecosystem — the primates in the park used the ITC as part of their home range, therefore taking chunks for these two areas for the conference center and US Embassy will fragment the size of their home range and in the long run may lead the extinction of some species. Interestingly, the Ministry of Environment is still quiet over this attempt to sell part of an ecosystem harboring a diverse species of biodiversity under their administration.”
The Gambian US-based Activist continued to unleash on the laxity of the Ministry of Environment and her line departments/agencies for failing to protect the Bijilo Forest Park since 2017 when the site was bulldozed for OIC Conference Center.
He went on that the blatant destruction of the Bijilo Forest Park is a clear indication that Gambian environmental laws have been violated under the watchful eyes of the current generation without regard to the lives and livelihoods of future generations.
“The park was not de-gazetted before they embarked on the clearing, and there is no EIA done to provide restoration/mitigation plan for the primates living in the park — this is why the monkeys are scattered all over the place around Senegambia area looking for leftover food to eat because their habitat was destroyed.
The red colobus monkey is an endangered species protected by the International Union for the Conservation of Flora and Fauna(IUCN) and if efforts are not done we will find ourselves in danger,” the renowned Gambian Environmental Activist revealed.
He added: “Why is the Justice Ministry taking a lead in this process on behalf of the Government of The Gambia not the Ministry of the Environment? Environmental matters are not under the Justice Ministry? I would rather prefer a standard Museum within the ITC complex than the US Embassy.”
He argued that a standard Museum will encourage ecotourism, and environmental education for school children without jeopardizing the flora and fauna of the country, noting that it’s about time the President of the Republic — who doubled as the Chair of the National Environmental Management Council to convene an emergency meeting and reconsider the decision of selling national reserved lands to the US Government.
Dr. Ahmed Manjang, also a prominent Gambian activist, called on all Gambians to unequivocally condemn the act and manifest their distaste for the government of the Gambia for selling WALIC and part of Bijilo Forest Park.
He added that it is mind-boggling seeing the government allocating 10 hectares of land for merely an embassy that is not supposed to host a military base.
“Honestly, we need to be clear about this, if the US gets this and they fence it I can 100 percent say that the adjacent beaches will be far away from the reach of a common man of the Gambian people in our land. The US can claim security reasons and close the beach, just pass through Kairaba Avenue and see the heavy bolters they put on the sides of the road chuckling the traffic and we can’t do anything about it,” Dr. Manjang observed.
He added: “The US has 25 acres of land at that place, if we let it happen our kids will never forgive us and that is why I am calling on all conscious Gambians to come together and defend what is left of the green belt of Kombo. These (Bijilo Park and WALIC) are the lungs of those densely populated communities (Serrekunda, Bakau, Sukuta) and the likes, you take those green belts out, these people will suffocate, the temperature will soar, the smoke and the dust will just consume them, so this is about saving our country, it is beyond Environmentalists.”
Demba Baldeh, a Ph.D. student in Climate change and Education, WASCAL, UTG SES Lecturer (On studies), Gambia College also an environmental activist suggested that the Government could have allocated such a huge land for the said embassy in rural Gambia, especially in regions like (CRR-North), where vast empty land is available, observing that such a move could have accelerated decentralization process that government has been grappling with since the last regime.
Baldeh who is presently on a Scientific Visit at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Germany said building US Embassy in rural Gambia will create more opportunities for the rural folks and reduce pressure in urban centers, arguing that if Gambians allow such a project to take-off in the urban area history will judge them for betraying the future generation.
“I wonder how a gazetted and reserved land can be sold, especially to a non-citizen of this country. I wonder if our national assembly select committee on the environment will sit by and watch this important heritage sold and become foreigners’ sole property.
I wonder if our Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources (MECNARR) will be muted about the whole saga when it is the ministry’s responsibility to protect our endangered flora and fauna and claim to be concerned about addressing the perils induced by climate change extreme events,” Demba Baldeh search for answers from Gambian authorities.
He added: “I wonder if the law custodians are concerned about the abuse of the ecosystem rights that will be violated once the project kicks off. I wonder if the environmentalists within and without will fully know what is at stake. I wonder if the academics with the right knowledge of environmental processes will hide in their cocoons without condemning the proposed project when they are the eyes and ears of the novice in environmental affairs. I wonder if the presidential advisers on environmental matters will ignore this trending issue until it becomes too late to avert.”