By Saio Marrah
The Chief of Walehun village, Kono district, Foday Tholley, has called on government and other members of the public to help rebuild their dilapidated houses to at least basic dwellings.
His call came after outgoing Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Augustine Sahr Sheku, promised to rebuild 10 of the over 20 ramshackled houses in the village.
He said since the destruction of their homes during the eleven years civil war from 1991 to 2002, only few of the residents of the village were able to rebuild their houses to an appreciable level.
Chief Tholley informed journalists at his village that among other serious challenges, housing constraint is the most pressing issues.
Mariama Koroma, a widow, is a resident of Walehun whose house is among the 10 being registered for reconstruction. After expressing her appreciation for the pending construction, she narrated the discomfort she and her family have to put up with over the years when it rains, due to the leaking roof.
Holes can be vividly seen up the roof from inside of one of the houses’ parlour. The outside view of most of the houses gives an impression that no one resides in them.
Civil servant Augustine Sahr Sheku confirmed to journalists that the construction work on the houses will commence on the 26th of this month.
Commenting on what motivated him to undertake such a venture, he said he had on several occasions intervened, helping people faced with similar cases especially in Kono district immediately after the war. He said: “No civilised community would like to see his people living in misery and not do anything about it. So in that vein I saw the pitiful state of Walehun and I know that Walehun is the first village in Kono district coming from Tonkolili.”
He added that he first wanted to provide solar light to the village, considering the magnitude of darkness that engulfs the settlement, but he then thought that will even expose the miserable state of the houses at night.
” So I spoke to a few people and we mobilised some building materials like zinc, cement, and I went to my village, got some boards .I am now going to get the youths to assist me in helping out the people of Walehun so they could have basic housing,“ he said.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (17/06/22)
