Bunja Janneh, a survey personnel on 11 November 2010 testified at the Brikama Magistrates' Court before Magistrate B. Secka in the ongoing criminal trial involving the people of Gidda and Giboro Kuta.
In his testimony, Janneh told the court that he resides at Serekunda and works as surveyor attached to the governor's office in Brikama.
He said he had been working as a surveyor for almost 23 years and could recall when he was assigned to do some work at Gidda, Talokoto and Giboro.
"I was assigned by the Governor of West Coast Region, Lamin Sanneh, on the 25th May 2010 to conduct a survey between the three villages: Talokoto Mandina, Gidda and Giboro Kuta," Janneh told the court.
"Upon our arrival at the site, we went to the Giboro Police Post and informed them of our mission to make boundary between the three villages mentioned based on the grounds that there was a dispute between them," Janneh revealed.
Janneh further said that at the police post the head of the police called the Alkalos of the three villages to witness the survey.
He said the survey started from the Brikama highway to Madinaba and Giboro Kuta with pillars erected to identify the boundary of each village.
Janneh said the survey was done in the presence of the Alkalos of the three villages, a PIU personnel, Paul Mendy; head of the police post in Giboro Kuta, and some NIA personnel.
According to him, after the survey, a map was prepared and presented to the Governor of West Coast Region with a report of the survey attached to it.
The prosecuting officer, Inspector Fadera, applied to tender the map of the survey and the report in court as exhibit, which was granted without any objection by defence counsel Sagarr Jahateh.
Under cross-examination, the witness told the court that prior to their survey, the physical planning also conducted a survey sometime in 2009 before theirs which was done on 25 May 2010.
He said he did not have the records of the previous survey, but the physical planning has it.
As to why there was a need for the second survey since the physical planning had done the first survey, the witness replied, saying: "The pillars were destroyed."
Hearing continues.
