By Ruth Yeabu Sesay
School authorities have expressed concern over the growing street trading activities taking place in the vicinity of the Government Model Secondary school (GMSS) and the Wallace Johnson Primary and Secondary Schools close to the Hillside bypass road.
The Vice-Principal of Wallace Johnson Secondary School told Politico that “these traders are intruders who are disturbing the learning environment of the children. We experience problems with some traders who run into the school to do business especially when the bell is rung for lunch or to indicate the end of the school day”.
Albert Mansaray said such a situation deprives the approved traders the opportunity to do proper business in the school”. He called for the traders to be relocated “as they are disturbing the learning environment for the children”.
A teacher at the Government Model Secondary School, said he was “very disappointed to have learning institutions and a market of that nature co-existing.
Mohamed Conteh said that “because these people have to advertise to attract the attention of pupils they use megaphones and they also do business with our students over the fence. That causes a lot of problems for us”.
Conteh told Politico that “a school environment is to be very peaceful and quiet, free from external interference for the pupils to be able to learn and work but what we have here is completely different… times when the noise pollution gets really bad we warn our pupils to focus and ignore the noise coming from the traders”.
A resident of Berry Street who preferred to be anonymous said “at night the noise affects us a lot, the loud music that is played day and night and fighting here and there makes it very bad for us”.
A fish seller at Berry Street by GMSS told Politico that they pay their dues to the market keepers from the Freetown City Council so they are allowed to carry on their trade.
Several attempts to talk to the relevant authorities at the Freetown City Council failed.
Following the construction of the section of Hillside Bypass Road linking Berry Street, the section of the street connecting to Circular Road at Model Junction was cut off from vehicular traffic. The number of traders previously selling bread to the school children increased and the place became a full-blown market with all the attendant implications thereof.
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