By Ragan M. Conteh
The Member of Parliament from Kailahun district who doubles as the Chairman of Lands and Country Planning Committee in Parliament, Hon. Quinton Salia Konneh has disclosed that the Western Area has become infested and it remains as a hub for land grabbing.
He said land grabbing has become so serious that President Bio is showing keen interest in the issue to stop it.
Hon Konneh further observed that most of the people who are grabbing huge portion of lands are people coming from up country.
He maintained that land grabbing has gravely affected future generations who may not be able to posses land in Western Area to ndertake development.
Hon Quiton Salia Konneh made the submissions on Wednesday 20 March 2024 at Committee room one when addressing a cross section of land owners and affected land owners of on a Court order at Tokeh Village in the Western Area Rural District.
Hon Konneh revealed that 99.9% of all land tussle in Western Area is not because people want to invest in the community level but to privately sell these lands.
He stressed that people that often sold land at all front remain to be pretty destitute, adding that people are misusing lands belonging to the state.
He spoke on the pending three-day talk meet that will be held at Tokeh Village which aimed at addressing such land issues in the country.
He told the locals at Tokeh that people are eager to sell lands citing that Tokeh village and other communities are cureently suffering from lack of basic amenities including parking space, markets, health centers and mong many others.
But yet still people don’t leave up spaces as they keep selling lands for their personal aggrandisement.
In some communities there is not stores and the situation continues to be appalling for the locals.
He, therefore, as a committee Chairman for lands said he would summon all land-claimers that has tussle to produce their documents to the committee to affirm their ownership.