BY Sorie Ibrahim Fofanah
The Mayor of the Freetown City Council (FCC), Yvonne Aki-Sawyer has said they would demolish houses that are built in disaster prone areas at Kroobay community along the coastal area of central Freetown.
Aki-Sawyer made this statement at the Ministry of Information and Civic Education’s weekly press conference hosted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs conference room on 30th July 2024, where she was speaking about 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.
She spoke about public information sharing during the rainy season, which she noted is “very necessary,” as people ought to have better understanding on precautionary measures during the rains.
On climate change, she mentioned how results from the ozone layer have led to extreme weather conditions in the country. She said Freetown has experienced over 691 millimeters of rainfall in 23 days this Julys.
She recalled how the population of Freetown was five hundred thousand thirty years ago, but has increased to 1.5 million people, and attributed human activities to reasons for disasters in Freetown.
The mayor spoke about engagement with relevant bodies on planning of the city, emphasizing there should be strict regulations for granting of building permits. She cited ongoing construction of structures on waterways and dumping of garbage whenever it rains, which she said results in flooding.
Aki-Sawyer pointed out that lack of access roads to collect garbage at hilly communities across Freetown is a major problem, and said they are working on bringing dumping sites closer to those hilly communities from where council vehicles will collect them.
She explained that over 977,000 trees have been planted by the council with 300,000 more to be planted, among which 200,000 are mangrove trees. She believed that those trees would serve as a flood defences.
She said council is also working with Sierra Leone Roads Authority which she noted has been doing well with regards to cleaning of gutters in the city to reduce flooding.
On how to curb waste dumping on the streets, she said FCC is about to use byelaws that will first have to be approved by parliament.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (05/08/24)
