Article By: Awa Sanneh
The community of Gunjur and Golden Lead has yet another legal matter to settle following the filing of an injunction against the fishmeal factory.
This is the latest legal conundrum that the coastal community and Golden Lead Factory have been enmeshed in. But if the information gathered this morning by Star TV is anything to go by, the matter may be settled before October.
There appears to be an end in sight to the friction over land between Gunjur women vegetable growers and Golden Lead Fishmeal factory.
The matter is now a subject of litigation at the high court following the filing of an injunction thereby Lawyer Lamin J. Darboe, seeking a halt to Golden Lead Factory’s expansion plan.
The women vegetable gardeners in Gunjur are up in arms against the fishmeal factory after it reportedly attempted to expand its operations in the fishing community. The expansion drive will require more land and this translates into encroachment on the vegetable gardens. The Gunjur women fear devastations to livelihoods if Golden Lead is allowed to expand.
Lawyer for the community, Lamin J. Darboe consequently went to the high court where he applied for an injunction. However at the injunction hearing recently, the lawyer for Golden Lead stated in court that his clients are not interested in the property where vegetable gardens are situated. Golden Lead’s lawyer, Lamin S. Camara, said his clients are not interested in buying the property and will not expand into it.
As a result, Lawyer Lamin J. Darboe moved an application for an injunction which was not opposed by Golden Lead’s lawyer. The application for injunction was granted.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Gunjur and Golden Lead factory will return to the high court on 28 October for the continuation of the proceedings into the substantive process that Golden Lead was served with.
Lawyer Lamin J. Darboe told Star TV on Wednesday that if in the interim the matter can be negotiated and settled then there would be no need for the injunction hearing. Barrister Darboe said there is a real possibility that the matter would be settled.
Meanwhile, this is one of the cases that pitched Gunjur and Golden Lead in a legal battle.
It would be recalled that some members of the community were in 2017 rounded up by the police and some subsequently tried in court for allegedly vandalizing Golden Lead factory’s pipeline. The youth claimed the pipes were spewing toxic waste materials into the sea, claims denied by Golden Lead.