Abdoulie Sanneh, the Western Region Forestry Officer has raised serious concerns over the way and manner in which Local Government authorities, particularly, the Alkalolu and District Chiefs issue documents to the public.
According to him, most often people who rush for these documents in order to secure National Identity Card are mostly foreigners, describing the act as a major concern in the country.
Mr. Sanneh, who was speaking to our reporter in an interview at his office in Brikama, expressed the needs for the Local Government authority to be very much observant to whom they issue documents. He added that issuing documents to some foreigners would negatively impact on the economy.
For Mr. Sanneh, the Local Government authorities should give priority to the Gambians, particularly, the youths when it comes to issuing documents, be it forest document or others.
He added that most of the Rhun palms are destroyed by foreigners in Gunjur, which he said, is unacceptable as most foreigners enrich themselves through the forest with the help of Gambians who connive with them.
According to him, destroying the forest cover is a way of denying the country revenue. He noted that during the course of their work at the forestry, they have been confronted with a lot of challenges and difficulties in the sense that most of the people who submitted their forms have Gambian identity cards, even though they are non-Gambians. This, he went on, is another major issue that needs to be addressed.
"If you apply at the forestry department for a vendoring, we request an identity card and in the event you produce your ID card, which is the requirement, we cannot stop you from getting the vendoring documents," he stated.
Mr. Sanneh thus tasked Local Government authorities to know whom to issue such documents, noting that most of them do not only aim to secure document, but to destroy the forest.