Sand dealers Friday protested against a sudden increment on mined sand by Sino Majilak Jalbak company, demanding the company to cancel the price hike or else they will boycott it. 

The protesters held placards calling for the return of sand price to its normal buying price from Majilak company in Banjul which has been conducting mining activities for the past years.

Muhammed Drammeh, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, expressed their displeasure, saying that the company just shot up prices on sand without engaging them.

“We used to buy sand for D475 but they woke up today and increased it to D650. And we cannot afford that amount. That’s too expensive and now if you want to buy a truck load of sand will cost you D4,000 excluding fuel. What they are doing is not right. They didn’t even consult us; they just took this decision out of disrespect,” he said.

“We are tired and they have shut down all the sand mining areas. We want the government to take action on this because we are not going to accept it,” he added.

Another displeased protester also said: “we want him to return the price to its normal level or else we will also boycott. If the company can’t reduce the price, let it be closed. Our decision is to boycott the company if prices on sand are not revised.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba