By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
A major operation designed to decongest Freetown’s highways has been received with mixed feelings.
The operation, dubbed ‘Operation Push Back’, entails reclaiming parts of six highways across the city which have been characterized by heavy traffic due to street hawking and unwise use of the main roads. The operation entails forcing pedestrians to use designated footpaths for walking and traders, who have colonized certain parts of the streets, are also forced to relocate to market areas.
The Sierra Leone Roads Safety Authority (SLRSA), which is implementing the operation, is doing so in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA), the Sierra Leone Police and the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces. The Freetown City Council is also part of the operation.
SLRSA officials say the operation which has been ongoing for the last one month will carry on indefinitely until the roads are clear. The Authority said the overall objective is to prevent road accidents.
‘Operation Push Back’ is being carried out on a tripartite approach - education, engineering and enforcement, said Abdukarim Dumbuya, Public Relations Officer of SLRSA.
He explained that while SLRSA does the education aspect by telling traders to push back through well-developed messages and channels, the engineering department of the SLRA handles the issue of damaged slabs along the pathway of pedestrians. The security forces – police and military, he added, seek to ensure compliance.
“The first phase has no definite timeline. It would continue until all the targeted streets have been cleared,” he said.
“Our first step is to talk to the traders politely. If they refuse to comply with us we talk to their authorities who will persuade them to obey. When that fails, we go through the police to forcefully evict them,” he added.
The operation is divided into two phases. Goderich Street, Kissy Road and Fourah Bay Road are the targets in this first phase. It will be followed by the second phase which commences as soon as the authorities realized success in the first phase, said Dumbuya.
In the second phase ECOWAS Street, Abacha Street and Wilberforce Street in central Freetown are targeted.
Dumbuya said the operation was inspired by complaints from members of the public including vehicle owners and drivers about the slow movement of traffic. He said prior to the commencement of the operation, SLRSA held a meeting with traders’ representatives, where they informed them about the plan and agreed on a deadline for them to move away from the streets.
The operation was piloted at Lumley where heavy success was recorded, according to Dumbuya, and he said that prompted the Authority to consider cascading it to other areas.
The SLRSA spokesman went on to say that when the operation started traders had wanted to resist them.
But while many people have welcomed the operation, with the exception of the traders of course, there have been expression of reservations from particularly pedestrians who are especially concerned about the safety of the slabs on the walkways.
Hassan Kanu walks daily from Up- Gun Roundabout to Eastend Police Station, where he sells bags. He is particularly happy that they are now free from harassment by traders who display their goods on the road.
“Traders use abusive words against us for a simple mistake of throwing their wares on the floor. Sometimes they can even assault someone who touches their commodity,” he said. Hassan however added that the authorities need to address the issue of damaged slabs along the footpaths, which he described as “deathtraps.”
“Sometimes pedestrians fall and fracture their feet,” he said.
But Dumbuya said SLRA has done feasibility studies for the renovation of damaged slabs across the roads on the street of Freetown.
For the traders, the operation is just bad for business. They say they have lost sales as a result of being asked to move away from the streets where they easily access their customers.
Bai Kamara, a call credit [‘a top-up’] seller along Kissy Road, lamented that when the operation started, SLRSA officials cared less about whether they (traders) had tax document from the Freetown City Council or not. Kamara and many traders affected by the operation believe that with a Council business certificate they should be free to sell on the streets.
“It would take me quite a long time before I get back my customers. But for now, my day’s sales have been affected,” he said.
© 2019 Politico Online
