Women gardeners in Kitty have expressed fears of losing decade’s old gardens as a result of intense sand mining activities by Gambia, Angola, China Holding (GACH) Global Mining Company.
GACH a company also into Tomato paste production, car rentals and gun importation and vehicle sales.
The Gambia Government issued a mining license to GACH mining company to export heavy mineral concentrated sand locally called “black sand” from the country notably in Sanyang and Batokunku villages all in Kombo South.
However, the company is also into undisclosed sand mining activities around Kitty and this has triggered the women gardeners who fear that such activities may result them to loss their gardens.
Recently, the Company was involved in alleged importation of fire arms into the country and generated heated debate among Gambians prompting Gambia Police to launch a two months investigation into issued.
However, the investigations acquitted the company for any wrong doing, revealing that the firearms were mire hunting guns.
“I have been working on this garden for more than fifteen (15) years and since my husband passed away some 5years now I and my family are entirely dependent on this garden for all our needs. Currently I must say am very much worried because sand mining activity is just closed to our gardens and if efforts are not done by the state we will surely lose this garden,” said Binta Dibba, a single mother.
According to her, their lives as women gardeners will be very unbearable once they lose their gardens as a result of the sand mining, disclosing that her family’s daily bread, clothing and medical expenditures are all garnered from gardening.
She said more than one hundred women works at the garden; currently all solely depends on their garden for their livelihood.
Fatoumata Sanyang 54 years also a women gardener said, she has been working at the garden for more than two decades, stating that the land was reserve for the women of Kitty as a garden by some families of Brikama,
She pointed out that the mining activity by GACH has become a worrisome issue for her and other women gardeners, revealing that some women has already lose their gardens as a result of the mining and anytime soon she could also lost her own.
Sanyang also revealed that the sand mining has affected the water table and has dropped down by some meters making them to pay more for well digging.
She added that it has also destroyed the forest cover around their fields making it impossible for the women to make their fences through local means.
“We are calling on the government to come to our aid, we are appealing to them to look into our situation because for most of us this is our office and once here is close, we are doom as all our household expenditures are acquired from the proceeds garnered from this gardening activities. Already we have our own problem of fencing as our gardens become exposed due to the indiscriminate falling down of the forest around our gardens,” Madam Samyang pointed out.
“You can see that sand mining has already precipitated many women to abandon their gardens. Already mining activities have consume many gardens and if action is not taken all this gardens will end up been mining fields and if this happens hundreds of people will find it difficult to make their living,” said Essa Suwareh, who works as insecticide sprayer for women gardens.
He said his livelihood entirely depends on the spraying of women gardens and once the gardening activities ceases he and his family will also feel the pain.
According to him, no formal discussions or engagement has taken place between neither GACH Global Mining nor the Bulandato families of Brikama on the sand mining leaving them suspended as to how their fate will be.
When contact on mining activities, Brikama Area Council (BAC) official, said BAC has no hands in the issuance of license nor aware of the mining activities at Kitty women’s garden.
“We (BAC) are not aware of any mining activity ongoing at Kitty and we don’t issue any license to GACH Global as far as the mining is concern. I will advise you go to geology to find out the license issue maybe they can tell you something about,” said Ebrima Sawaneh, acting administrative officer, Brikama Area Council (BAC).
Efforts to visit the site with Geology official proved futile as many appointment failed. However, geology supervisor around the area Lamin Kanteh confirmed that GACH Global mining has been authorized by his department to embark on sand mining around that end, revealing that geology only comes to such conclusion after discussing with the Bulundala families of Brikama, the traditional owners of the said site.
“It’s true that geology department issued the mining license to GACH Global to embark on sand mining in the area but only after the company went into agreement with Bulundala families of Brikama who are said to be the rightful owners of the site,” disclosed Kanteh.
According to him, mining activities have been going on at the site for a very long time, noting that it was Sino-Gam that was first issued with a license to mine sand at the area but since their license expired around September of 2018 GACH Global Mining took over. He said Sino-Gam and GACH Global Mining are all owned by one person.
Malaine Bojang of the Brikama Bulundala families also confirmed that it is his families that allocate the mining site to GACH Global mining, pointing that the entire area belongs to the Bulundala families comprising of sixteen families who all agreed that mining activity can take place at the site.
Environmental action group dubbed Kitty One Organisation for Poverty Alleviation (KOOPA) also made calls on government to stop the mining activities around the area, stressing that if such activities is not stopped many families may starve and poverty raised in the community as most of the women gardens entirely depends on the proceeds acquired from the site to make ends meet for them and their families.
Meanwhile, all efforts to talk to GACH Global Mining Company on the purported mining activity proved futile as the company’s secretary to the Chief Executive Officer promised to get back, which never happens after series of messages and calls.
