By: Ilyasa Baa
The dispute for a small portion of land between Muslims and Christians in Deep Eye Water, Western Rural District has not yet resolved as the matter is expected to be taken to the Anti – Land Grabbing Unit at the Ross Road Police Station.
The owner of the land who donated a portion for the construction of a church is not comfortable with the outcome of the matter and the way the Deep Eye Police Post is handling.
Having built a club opposite the pray ground, the woman was asked to tell the contractor to keep off the Nimbar, where the Imam officiates Eid prayers so there will be space between the proposed church and the portion used by Muslims.
“It is good for higher authority to look into the matter now that it has come to this”, the woman grumbled.
Members of the community have said the field which used to be eleven aside, has been largely encroached upon even the club and the nearby house constructed by the woman are inside the community field, they submitted.
Meanwhile, there is calm over the issue as message of peace and unity have been preached for members of the community to exercise restraint while the police are investigating the matter.
A community Imam, Sheikh Ismail Kabia reiterated the need for religious tolerance and mutual respect to co-exist amongst Muslims and Christians in the community.
He said considering the religious tolerance the country enjoys, the construction of a Church near a Mosque was not an issue but should be done without encroachment.
He said that the foundation should not have been constructed without due consultation which, he noted, should have prevented all these confrontations.
It could be recalled that the former Member of Parliament, Hon Pateh Bah, the Headman, Ibrahim Sesay together with other stakeholders were nearly mobbed when information leaked that they were trying to sell the field which initially was eleven aside but drastically reduced due to illegal sales. The issue went as far as Parliament though youths were arrested and the entire area locked down. The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, who was Hon. Chernor Maju Bah by then, castigated his colleague for conspiring with others to sell community land.