By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The owner of the fence that collapsed leading to the death of five (5) people at an adjacent house at Spur Road during the heavy downpour of rain on the night of Saturday 10th September and the preceding Sunday morning has denied neglect allegations by affected persons.
Isha Bangura who lives abroad also denied refusing to reach out to Alimamy Bangura (no relation) who is the caretaker of the building on which the wall collapsed, killing its inhabitants. She said she knew the pain of losing loved ones, and dismissed accusations of willfully refusing to strengthen the wall. She said her tenant had never informed her that the structure was in a poor shape.
Alimamy told Politico that they felt neglected for the fact that since the incident took place, Hardrick Sam Bangura, the caretaker of the house where the fence is situated on behalf of the landlady Isha only went to the bereaved family to give them NLe 1,500 for the funeral.
He said it is an insult for him to accept such a sum after many lives have been lost from the said incident. He claimed to have held discussions about the deteriorating state of the fence and the danger posed, but was given deaf years.
Bangura stated that this is the first time for a fence to collapse on people in the community, and it could have been avoided had the owner responded earlier.
He said he tried reaching Isha but was told she only requested his number but never called.
Hardrick reacting to the various claims denied knowledge of such a report about the fence from any member of those staying in the affected compound including the caretaker. He pointed out that, the said fence has been on the land before the affected structure was erected.
He said there has never been a day that they had any argument regarding that fence. He claimed that even the affected building’s foundation was dug very close to the fence unbeknown to them which he said undermined the fence’s foundation causing it to collapse.
He went on to say that, they had also at no time noticed any deterioration around the fence that may be life-threatening to those living nearby.
At the burial ceremony, Hardrick noted that they gave 500,000 old Leones to the owner of the building, Alimamy as a sign of respect, and one million old Leones to the local Chief as their support to the burial. He said he was later informed that the one million Leones would not be enough for a burial ceremony.
Hadrick stated that another ten million old Leones has since been handed over to the chief on behalf of his family and expressed profound regret for the lives lost.
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