Women in the Sukuta-Salagi area are calling on the government to intervene and solve their dispute with the department of Physical Planning, which is over the use of land in the area for a community market.
They complained to reporters on Tuesday 28th June, 2022 about the presence of armed paramilitary police officers at the site, where more than 40 women were busy building stalls, as their commander was engaging the leaders of the women to stop work.
The women are accusing the Physical Planning authorities of asking the police to stop them from erecting stalls and doing business at the site.
“We are very disappointed that the Director of Physical Planning, Mamudu Manjang, ordered the deployment of paramilitary officers at this market serving tens of thousands of women in the area. They disrupt our business and our livelihood being poor and vulnerable Gambians,” Bintu Colley asserted.
“We are calling on the government to intervene. The mere presence of these paramilitary forces can scare some women from coming to the market in order to put food on the table for their families,” she added.
The market reportedly serves as many as 25,000 women resident in the villages of Salagi, Yuna, Mariama Kunda, Sare Pateh, and Wullinkama, among others, “who used to suffer commuting to the Serrekunda and Sinchu Alagie markets,” according to Maimuna Bah.
She called on the government to allow them to use the land for their market considering the number of people and communities the market is serving. Otherwise, the women are determined to defy the Physical Planning authorities, a sentiment which many others expressed.
