|
Mandingo Nations Website |
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
Useful Links |
News And Articles |
||||||||||||
|
Community Links
|
“TOTAL” To Build Station On Ganta
Disputed Land? Courtesy: Public Agenda 16 August, 2010  On
Monday, August 8, 2010, exactly 12 days after President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf’s first official comment on the reports submitted by the Special
Presidential Nimba Land Dispute Commission, some residents of Ganta City
have chosen to ignore call by the President that the recommendation of
the committee’s report will be implemented and issues of land must not
be used to disunite the nation. This paper has gathered confirmed reports that a parcel of land situated in Ganta City, exactly by the old Mobil gas station has once again been disputed by parties claiming ownership, despite reports that the Land Commission has probed and decided the faith of the land. A thorough investigation conducted by this paper in Ganta City reveals that the land is being disputed once again between one Mr. Vamuyan Dorlleh and Messer Eric Jelemen, Joseph McGill and Amos Suah Gleborgaye. Although this land was contested before by the above parties, the appointment of a Special President Land Commission was seemingly a consolation to all parties in the contest. According to a document in possession of this paper, a Claimant ID Card with Case Number 123-125 was given to Mr. Vamuyan Dorleh by the Special Presidential Nimba Land Dispute Commission. The provision of this ID Card, like many other such ID cards, according to the Commission’s Local Committee in Ganta is proof of ownership and sign of settlement between party litigants. The Claimant ID Card proves that the bearer shall remain the owner of the land while the other party shall receive financial compensation for relocation and resettlement to another place of his/her choice. This decision being clearly accepted by all parties that participated in the Land Commission’s work, all is expected to remain calm until the start of payment of financial stimulus. Contrary, and in what seems to be a violation of the Commission’s decision, Messer Eric Jelemen, Joseph McGill and Amos Suah Glegbogaye have chosen to ignore the amicable resolution by the Commission by reclaiming same disputed land once again. It is clear that not everyone in Nimba Land palaver have participated in the peaceful settlement of dispute as proposed by the Land Commission, but it is not clear what the fate of those who participated in the Commission’s work would be in case of reneging on or disregarding its recommendations. While the report still remains sealed and undisclosed, its request for 1 million US Dollars for resettlement of some parties and the recently pronounced eminent domain by government are known. Well, speaking to our investigation in of Ganta, one of the disputants, Mr. Vamuyan Dorleh said the land in question is one inherited from his father and that which has been approved for ownership by the Land Commission under Case No 123-125. According to Mr. Dorleh, on Monday of this week, and very much to his surprise, he saw Mr. Eric Jelemen and Joseph McGill digging what seems to be a foundation on the land already decided upon by the Land Commission. When asked, Mr. Dorleh told this paper that the ’intruders’ said they were digging foundation for a gas station project. After a few heated arguments, the men threatened to kill him if he (Mr. Dorleh) didn’t leave the spot. Attempt made to speak with Mr. Jelemen and McGill could not succeed as our investigator was told they were not around at the moment. But what was evident was a serious digging of foundation on the land and a man standing by pointed at a fellow he said was Mr. McGill. This paper tried to speak to the man but the man refused to be identified as McGill. Well, efforts made by Mr. Dorlleh to stop the construction on his land did not materialize, according to him. He then complained to the office of the City Mayor and the Police with hard evidence of ownership on the land by the Land Commissioner’s Claimant ID Card with case number 123-125. For his part, the City Mayor of Ganta has confirmed receiving the complaint filed by Mr. Dorleh on the issue. Mr. D. Dorr Cooper speaking in an exclusive interview told this paper that he had dispatched the Chairman of the City Council, Mr. Benedict Flomo to invite the parties involved. Mr. Cooper said the both parties came to his office for inquiry and was later ordered to halt all projects on the disputed land until the appropriate investigations were completed. It seemed that Mr. Eric Jelemen and Mr. Joseph McGill did not yield to the decision of the office of the City Mayor, something which accordingly prompted Mr. Dorlleh to contact the police. The police, too, had come to prevent the construction; they met with stiff resistance from the men on the construction. According to reports, a few of them escaped police arrests while the others, until now, accepted the City Mayor’s instructions to halt the construction, since they were, in fact, just mere contractors. Although our investigator did not see people digging and constructing, what was evident was a fresh foundation already being dug and the City Mayor’s confirmation of the intended construction project by Mr. Jelemen and Joseph McGill. Meanwhile, officials of the Land Commission’s local committee have confirmed that such a complaint has been filed by Mr. Dorleh and invitation was sent to Messer. Jelemen and McGill to appear in their office to answer to the accusation of trespassing. At the meeting, it is alleged that the reported ‘trespassers’ disagreed to the Land Commission decision to accept the money intended for their relocation. “He told the people (local land committee) that he was not ready for peace and if we continue, he will kill us. Even if Ellen come, he will not stop,” Mr. Dorljeh told this paper. Attempts made to contact the highest local government official of the County; Superintendent Mrs. Edith Weh-Gonglo failed as her cell phone rang countlessly without an answer or a call back. Interestingly, the Mayor of Ganta, Mr. D. Dorr Cooper, has confirmed reports that French Giant Oil Company, Total, has expressed interests to invest on that particular disputed land. In a letter to the Mayor, Total said it would like to invest in petroleum project in Ganta, but mainly on that particular spot since it was once a gas station operated by Mobil. “They wrote us that they wanted to invest on that land but wanted to know who was the rightful owner of the land. We are in the process of trying to identify the right owner of the place and this other issue has sprung up,” the Mayor said in an interview at his office. The Mayor said that parties have respected his instruction of a halt to the construction project, something which the angry Mr. Dorlleh has denied and said they (Jelemenh and McGill) continue to dig foundation on the land. Commenting on this land issue was Mr. D. Dorr Cooper who said: “The decision reached by the Land Commission was, I think, a resolution made out of amicable agreement and for the sake of peace and unity. It didn’t prove that you are the rightful owner of the land,” the mayor warned. “The Land Commission didn’t work under us but I think it wasn’t part of their terms of reference to decide the rightful owners a land or not. If they did so, then it is a violation of their own terms of Reference,” may Cooper concluded. Although the Mayor said he has not yet identified the ‘rightful owner’ of that land as requested by Total, but one link could be worth noting. That Total is interest in petroleum business will inevitably need a gas station; Mr. Jelemen and McGill have confirmed that they are digging foundation for gas station. Here, a common denominator could be gas station. |
||||||||||||
|
Mandingo
Nations Webite Incorp. |
|||||||||||||
