By Mabinty M. Kamara
The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) announced on Friday evening that the curfew and inter district lockdown has now been extended “indefinitely”.
The measures were first announced by government on the 12th of April, as part of ways to halt the spread of the Corona virus. But the measure has done little to curb the spread of the virus.
On Saturday the country recorded four more cases, taking the cumulative confirmed cases to 86.
Freetown is the epicenter of the virus, accounting for 66 of the total confirmed cases.
Naturally, residents in Freetown have been some of the most affected, compared to other areas in the country. In a city of over two million people, movement has been difficult and business has been slow since the measures were first introduced.
The partial lockdown include a curfew from 9pm every night to 6am the next morning.
Fatmata Bangura, who does her business at Abacha Street, said business has been slow and she has to spend more on transportation to beat the curfew.
“I live all the way at Yams Farm, very close to Waterloo, and I come from there every day to do my business. We all know how wicked the drivers are when it comes to rush hours to go home. Now I have the cause to spend even more than twice the normal amount I used to spend on transportation, because all the drivers will either call for half ways or ignore people by the road side,” she told Politico, just days before the lockdown was extended.
Like many other residents, Bangura wants the curfew time to be reduced.
On the back of the current circumstance, drivers have been accused of having a field day by exploiting passengers, whiles reluctantly complying to strict social distancing regulations.
Kewulay Conteh, a commercial driver in the east end Freetown, said the accusations are not true. He described the current situation as “the worst experience” he has ever had as a driver. Conteh said he could barely save during this period.
“People think we are making money at this time but we are equally challenged. If you don’t shorten your destinations, you won’t make anything in the end, and we all have families. We have reduced the number of passengers. There is police and traffic to deal with and now there is time also to catch up with, because if time beats you up, then you are in police net and we know what that means,” Conteh explained.
Conteh would like the government to push the commencement of the curfew to 11pm.
Whiles Conteh and Bangura think the lockdown measures has affected them, Nancy Turay, a Civil servant, told Politico that the laws have now given her enough time than she had before.
“For me, I have no problems with the partial lockdown… At least you have the time to go out and do something for yourself. Now offices close at 4:00pm, which is enough time for me to beat the traffic and transportation constraints to be home before then. I know it will be difficult for the business people, but we all should just endure it for the time being,” she noted.
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