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“We are asking for 200,000 houses to be built in the next 10 years, so we are starting with 10,000 houses,” he stressed.
“The president and his government believe that giving land to people who have no means of survival is not the answer to our housing problem,” he said, adding that the government wants to change policy. “We want to build affordable houses for Gambians.”
The Minister further disclosed that in 2010, the technical department under his ministry was directed to initiate land banking on state-owned land in the West Coast region.
“By 2011, land had been identified in certain settlements to be used for the construction of housing for civil servants,” he disclosed.
“The identified reserved lands for residential use in the Greater Banjul area are located in Old Yundum, Yunna, Jamburr and Mamuda. However, recent inspections have revealed sporadic development and encroachment on these reserved lands,” he added.
He also said: “The president has tasked me and my department to ensure that the housing programme is successfully implemented for the benefit of the Gambian people.”
“They will be here on the 24th of this month because of my partnership with Shelter Afrique Band. UN-HABITAT will also be here next week and BADEA Bank is waiting for an invitation from our Minister of Finance because they want to hold their AGM in The Gambia,” he disclosed.
“For more than 50 years, there has been no policy on reserves and we are determined to have one in place by April 2025, with support from the World Bank.”
He disclosed that last week he had set up two committees to look into all these reserved land issues and report back to the government “We will take appropriate steps to ensure that these issues are resolved”, he assured.
He added: “I have also instructed departments through their permanent secretaries and directors to
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