By Mama A. Touray
The Minister of Local Government, Lands and Religious Affairs, Hamat NK Bah, has said the government will introduce its inaugural land policy with the support of the World Bank in April 2025.
Minister Bah made this statement during the inauguration of a new madarasa and daycare centre at the police barracks in Banjul.
He remarked that the Gambia, being the fifth most densely populated nation in Africa, has suffered from inadequate land due to historical mismanagement over the past six decades. Consequently, the current administration is acutely aware of the need for better land management.
“We need to create and strengthen institutions of government, have policies and strategies, methods, and train personnel to be able to manage our land henceforth for the future of this country. And in that regard, we are grateful to the World Bank for all the support they have given to this government in making sure that the first-ever land policy is rolled out in April 2025,” he said.
Bah added: “Every Gambian is involved in the policymaking. There is nobody who is left out including the police because we want at the end of the day when we have a policy, it becomes the policy of the people and that the document will determine our strategy because it is the policy that dictates the strategy.”
At the gathering, Bah stated that Gambians should abandon the notion of land ownership due to the country’s limited land resources. He emphasized that it is more important for Gambians to have a decent house where they can live with their family.
“Land is a commodity that never expands. Once used, it contracts but does not expand. So, what is important is to have a strategy on how to manage the usage of your land and that is why we believe that in our quest to have housing for Gambians, it must be nationwide, but it cannot be a Banjul, Brikama issue but it has to be an entire nation of this country,” he said.
