Western Region Governor challenges local authority

The Governor of Western Region, Mr. Lamin Sanneh has challenged landlords, Alkalolu and chiefs to ensure that foreigners are registered with the Immigration Department.

Governor Sanneh, who was speaking in an interview with this reporter recently at his office in Brikama, said that every foreigner residing in the country has to register with the Alkalo as required by the laws of the land.

He stressed the need for Gambians to learn from 2009 occurrences and ensure that every stranger or foreigner  register with the village head, to determine their ages, origin and mission.

According to him, there are certain unscrupulous elements who rent in compounds and sleep the whole day, while in the night they disappear without knowing what they do.

He noted that within a shortest possible time that person would be seen driving flashy cars and having so many things to do beyond imagination.

"Those kinds of elements should be thoroughly screened to know what they are engaged in and we most ensure that our tenants are being monitored so that those types of malpractice will be controlled," he said.

He then sent a word of advice to all Alkalolu and chiefs to be very vigilant in the way and manner, in which they issue documents to the public.

Noting that land dispute is still a problem in the Western Region as a result of greed, he said it is not uncommon to see people doing dubious things only to get rich overnight.

Governor Sanneh also expressed great concern over the spate of continuous land grabbing in the region. This, he added, should be carefully looked into, especially at the local level. As he put it, land is an asset, which needs to be preserved.