Korop village, a rural settlement situated in the Upper Fulladu, Central River Region – South has threatened to forcefully evict Swami India from their community who acquired their 90 hectares land three years ago.
Villagers say the Indian company has failed its promise to provide water and electricity services to the community which was a condition in acquiring the land which is being developed as a banana plantation.
On Tuesday, the entire community marched to the plantation where they demanded the closure of the place asking workers to leave. According to reliable sources, the situation nearly turned violent until the regional Governor intervened to quell the tension.
The village Alkalo Muhammed Jamanka explains to The Chronicle. “It’s true that we had a loggerhead with Swami India over their unfulfilled electricity and water supply promise they made to our village.
“We allocated 90 hectares of our communal land to this company in return for electricity and water supply but it is 3 years 4 months now and they are yet to deliver their promise and we thought there is no need for them to continue with their operation,” Jamanka tells The Chronicle.
However, he said due to the intervention of the Governor, the community has decided to allow a temporary operation at the plantation.
“If not the intervention of the Governor, we wouldn’t have allowed Swami India to operate until the issue of our electricity and water project is sorted out. Governor appealed to us to give him little time so as to find a way out and it is for this reason why we suspended our decision for now,” Jamanka stated.
The Focal Person of Swami India at the banana plantation, Sarah Kandeh admitted that “an agreement was made to provide electricity and water for the village.” He said the company could not implement the agreement due to financial issues.
“We are still bonded by our agreement and we are doing everything possible to solve the issue for good. Already we are negotiating with NAWEC so as to get to the bottom of this issue,” Kandeh explained.
Governor of Central River Region Abba Sanyang confirmed that the matter is on his desk and working towards resolving it by inviting both parties to a meeting today, Monday in Janjanbureh.