By Mabinty M. Kamara
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Tamba Lamina, has indefinitely suspended the monthly Saturday cleaning exercise across the country, ahead of the planned three days lock down.
The move, according to the minister, was to enable the people to move freely to make necessary arrangements ahead of the lockdown which starts this Sunday.
The minister made this pronouncement on Thursday at the virtual government press conference held at the Ministry of Information and Communication.
“Knowing very well that there is going to be restrictions in place, we want Sierra Leoneans to be able to access banks just before the lockdown. I think that is good for Sierra Leoneans,” he said, noting that even though it’s a not a general cleaning, people could still clean their homes.
“The 22 Local councils across the country have now been informed that the Saturday cleaning has now been suspended until further notice,” he added.
National cleaning days are held on the first Saturday of every month, and it is mandatory upon communities and individuals to clean up their environment.
The exercise was initially imposed in 1992, under the former NPRC Junta. However, there had been intermittent breaks in the exercise due to the huge financial commitment involved.
The exercise was re-introduced by President Julius Maada Bio on the 5th of May 2018, after he assumed office as elected president.
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