By: Dawda Baldeh
The Minister of Transport, Works, and Infrastructure, Ebrima Sillah, has informed journalists that family disputes and incorrect documentation are hindering compensation for those affected by various road projects.
According to Sillah, many families are in dispute when seeking compensation.
“I want to appeal to the people to resolve issues within their families.
Sometimes families have different mothers, with the father being the title holder for the property.
When it comes to compensation, this becomes a problem because the families are divided, making it very difficult for us,” he said.
Sillah urged families to unite and have a representative to ensure they easily receive compensation.
He revealed that since last year, they have conducted property valuations, and one section of the roads was allocated D34 million.
“In December last year, we provided D17 million to the NRA, but only D2 million was paid.
However, in most compounds within the Greater Banjul Area, either the actual owner is deceased, or those claiming ownership don’t have the actual title.
We cannot pay compensation to anyone whose name is not on the title, or if we are to pay, the entire family has to provide power of attorney for the payment to be made,” he continued.
He further explained that his ministry has cross-checked and found that some people claiming ownership of most properties do not have their names on the lease documents.
The works minister noted that there is a section of his ministry responsible for that.
He claimed that victims of the demolition were asked to bring their compound documents.
“Payment vouchers are raised, sent to the treasury, and then the treasury sends them to the Central where the monies are paid directly into the beneficiary’s accounts,” he asserted.
According to him, when this government came into power and found that the previous government refused to pay compensation, especially for the demolitions that took place in Brikama going to Jamisa and other places.
He further explained that many people who rushed to claim ownership of the compounds and received compensation were not the rightful holders because their names were not on the lease or Alkalo’s designated papers.
“We are now saying whoever is claiming ownership of a demolished property will have to provide authentic documents.
We had sensitized them during the demolition process.
Families were asked to identify claimants for the demolished properties,” he added.
Furthermore, Sillah announced that over D13 million allocated for compensation still has not been paid due to the tedious process.
“This will go through a proper audit system, and we want to follow the rules and regulations,” he concluded.
