Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – The Director General of the Gambia Tourism Board (GT Board), Abubacarr S. Camara, has firmly defended the Board’s handling of land allocations within the Tourism Development Area (TDA), telling lawmakers that the institution has acted strictly within established regulations and committed no wrongdoing.
Camara appeared before the National Assembly’s Special Select Committee, which is probing complaints of irregularities, missing documents, and conflicting claims over tourism land.
He said that when he assumed office, he was confronted with “numerous complaints” from people whose land applications had been pending for years, prompting management to launch an internal review.
That review, he explained, exposed significant gaps in older archival records, including incomplete files, missing receipts, and allocation letters issued without the required proof of payment.
He cited a notable case from 2007, where an applicant presented an allocation letter but had no corresponding evidence of payment, which he described as an essential prerequisite before any lease can be validated.
Committee members pressed him on the inconsistencies, asking how such records could be missing from the GT Board’s archives. Camara acknowledged the administrative shortcomings but insisted they were inherited challenges rather than the result of malpractice.
“There is no deliberate withholding of information,” he said, adding that applicants become legitimate leaseholders only after completing all payment obligations and receiving finance clearance.
He further told lawmakers that the Ministry of Lands had reviewed and nullified some allocations that breached procedure, underscoring that the GT Board continues to rely solely on documented evidence when assessing or approving land applications.
The Special Select Committee will continue its inquiry in the coming weeks, with more witnesses expected to testify as lawmakers scrutinize additional files before producing their final report and recommendations.
