By Sorie Ibrahim Fofanah
The Freetown City Council (FCC), in a joint operation with the Sierra Leone Police, on Friday 9th August, 2024 embarked on an extensive demolishing of makeshift shelters at the Kroobay Community in Central Freetown, rendering many families homeless.
Affected residents who spoke to Politico explained their ordeal. One of them, Lamin Conteh who is married and a father of two, acknowledged that FCC had earlier given them short notice prior to the day of demolition of their corrugated iron sheets “pan bodi” shelter.
Theresa Jones, another affected person, said she didn’t feel good about the demolition of her shelter, saying she and her three children have become homeless. She claimed she didn’t receive any notice from authorities about the demolition of their homes. She however noted that her neighbors had told her the previous day about the then pending exercise.
“This morning, we went to FCC and cried to them, for them to see reason and give us some time, but they insisted that they would go ahead with their plan. They have now come and demolished our houses. Where do I go now?” Jones asked.
She called on the government to help them with temporary shelters.
Another affected person, Pa Bai Sesay explained that he is unhappy with the demolition by FCC and the police, but that they don’t have anything to do about it.
“They said we have been given notice to leave here, but we never had a meeting with authorities,” he claimed.
A visibly distraught affected resident who could only identify himself as Alimamy said he and his six family members have been affected by the demolition, saying they don’t have anywhere to go amidst the rainy season. He went on to say they had only been given a week’s notice to vacate the prohibited area.
Alimamy, like the others, also called on the government to help them with alternative housing for them to stay.
It could be recalled that the Mayor of Freetown Municipality, Yvonne Aki-Sawyer at the weekly Government press briefing stated Council will demolish houses that are built in disaster prone areas at Kroobay community.
Aki-Sawyer was at the time explaining about the council's intervention to mitigate flooding and other natural disasters in the capital Freetown.
She said the council together with the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning had an engagement in which they agreed to demolish houses beyond the mangrove demarcation line where they plan to plant mangrove trees in the community.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (12/08/24)
