Addressing thousands of worshippers on the occasion of the Muslims feast of Koriteh on Tuesday, Mbemba Bojang, the village headman of Kombo Lamin has called on owners of undeveloped plots of land in his village to either develop them or risk losing it.

“I have been saying this over and over again for the past ten years and yet the people concerned are not heeding. Now, I have no choice but to act,” he said.

Lamin is the biggest and most densely populated village in the Kombo North district of the West Coast Region of The Gambia. It is the home to the country’s paramount chief and is blessed with many essential amenities lacking in most Gambian villages.

“How can you own a plot of land in the center of the village without putting up any structure or even fencing it,” Bojang quizzed, describing the situation as an eyesore.

And since many undeveloped plots have become dumping grounds for all sorts of rubbish, alkali Bojang went on to harp on the health risks it is posing to those residing around such empty plots.

“Next to Godliness is cleanliness,” he quoted the old adage to the congregation, urging residents, too, to clean up their environment.

                                                    The Time

Though Alkali Bojang did not state the exact date for the would-be action, he emphasised that the Tuesday warning will be his last. 

For the past years, the village headman has been sending out such warnings to owners of undeveloped plots, but only a fraction has so far complied, several villagers told our own Lamin Njie, who is a resident of the Kombo North village.

Majority of the villagers seemed to have greeted the warning with approval and are looking forward to action.

“The truth is that some of those empty lands which are in the heart of Lamin, are now turning into dumping centers and they have been there for the past three decades,” said a villager.

                                               Compound Rates

The village headman has also used the occasion to call on the people of Lamin to avoid defaulting in paying their annual compound rates as that is what will be ploughed back for the development of the village.

“If you don’t pay your rates, there will be no money for the provision of street lights and taps,” he said.

Bojang also implored on the village to strengthen the unity that exists among them and always work together towards the development of the village.

And the youths, he added, should join hands with the womenfolk come next Saturday to  help them put up a barricade on their rice fields as rain waters have been seriously affecting their fields.