Belama Families Face Eviction Over Disputed Land

Imagine spending years building a home, only to learn that someone else holds the title to the land. That is the reality facing several families in Belama Phase Five, where residents say they are now being threatened with eviction. The dispute gained fresh attention this week after their complaints surfaced online. Area Representative Francis Fonseca says overlapping leases and titles issued across successive administrations lie at the center of the controversy, and authorities are still trying to untangle the mess.

 

Francis Fonseca, Area Representative, Freetown

“That video was out before I spoke about the issue. No, as I said before a lot of work has gone into Belama. Because of politics, a lot of multiple titles have been given out to people, unfortunately. So that is a long process that we’re working through trying to resolve. In 2019, we were in opposition. We could not get anything out of the Ministry of Natural Resources under the UDP for Belama. They were doing what they wanted with the land, which was my issue, that they were not regarding the leases that we had given out previously. They completely disregarded those and gave new leases and new titles to other individuals so that created a complete mess. So yes, we’ve been working on that issue. It’s an ongoing challenge, as I keep saying.”

 

Fonseca says living on and developing land does not automatically give someone legal ownership.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

Watch the full newscast here: