By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
Business people whose stalls were demolished along the busy Abacha and ECOWAS streets have cried for help from the government and other authorities concerned, saying that the action against them was unfair and unexpected.
The news of the demolition came in the morning hours of Friday 12th August 2022 after the widespread protests that occurred on the 10th of August this year in some parts of the country and mostly the eastern parts of the capital Freetown.
Esheika Koroma, a trader at Abacha Street whose stall was also destroyed noted that the destruction did not go down well with him. He said, he was at home when he received a call that his stall is nowhere to be seen, which he said was confirmed upon arrival at the scene.
He said no one is yet to come out and explain to them the reason for the demolition. He said the operation to destroy those stalls will seriously affect him as he said he solely depends on the everyday sales to feed himself and his family.
Salamatu Kargbo is another trader at Abacha Street that lost her stall. She said, she arrived in the morning as she usually does to sell and make ends meet, only to see that her stall was no more. She said the action will greatly affect her, noting that most of the women selling at Abacha Street are single parents and it is only through those tables they will survive with their families.
She said some of them have University students to take care of through those stalls. She therefore pleaded with the government and other stakeholders to come to their aid, as she said they have nowhere else to survive without those stalls.
Like the other traders, Salieu Sesay, a trader at ECOWAS Street pointed out that the stalls destroyed were their source of livelihood. He said the cost of materials to construct stalls was very expensive, so if they are being vandalized, he said it will be a huge burden on them to construct new ones.
He went on to say that, they are not earning that much to secure shops, so he said their livelihood only depends on those small stalls they erect by the roadside. He said they could not tell what might have been the reason for the demolition.
He said the demolition will affect his family as he said he will be using what he had spared to cater for his family to construct a new stall if they are allowed to. He appealed to the authorities' concerned to ensure that their issues were addressed within the shortest possible time.
The Mayor of Freetown City, Yvonne Aki-Sawyer in a social media post noted that the destruction of market stalls at Abacha Street was brought to her notice via photos she received on social media. She said, she also saw posts accusing the Freetown City Council to be responsible for the said operation.
She therefore distanced the council from such actions, saying that they did not participate in what she referred to as the night operation that happened during the curfew hours.
The Police spokesman, Assistant Commissioner Brima Kamara could not comment on the issues when Politico contacted him but said they will do so in a press statement that was yet to be published at the time of going press.
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