ANOTHER FINE WASTE OF OUR TAXES INSIDE YOUYI BUILDING
We recently called attention to a number of expensive vehicles parked in a little corner of Youyi building in the area opposite Chicken Town. Those vehicles have been there for at least FOUR years, apparently for repairs. We cannot be too certain about this but from what we can see in that place, those vehicles have been cannibalized over the period and the only thing the government should do now is to sell them off and end the disgrace.
Buried in the grass and rubbish in the same place are motorbikes – the kind of bikes agriculture extension workers use to reach target communities in rural Freetown. We counted about half a dozen of them rotting away. How can people be so wicked in dealing with state property? Take a look at this picture and draw your own conclusion.
When we published pictures of vehicles found in the condition, we waited to hear from the relevant government agency but they did the normal thing, which is to ignore us and hope that that story will die out. We have very bad news for them. We will continue with this until action is taken. Properties bought with our taxes should be handled with care.
By the way, we know how many vehicles and bikes are parked in that place. Our next step will be to tell those in charge to be prepared to account for all of them when that time comes.
SLUM DWELLERS IN FREETOWN AND THE RAINY SEASON
We will soon begin to hear the familiar cries from the slums around Freetown – from Kroo Bay to Moa Wharf. In this social media age, pictures of flooded out dwellings, damaged properties and real human misery will be shared around the world. We ask the same question year in, year out – why can’t our people move out of such dangerous places? Instead of losing lives and properties every year and calling for help, why can’t people just move out? We keep asking but all we get are politically-correct answers that fail to move the needle in a positive direction.
For good reasons we refuse to refer to slum dwellers as VICTIMS when their homes are flooded out. We call them AFFECTED people. We believe they bear some responsibility by simply refusing to move from such places. We will not answer any question about where they should go because the answers are all over the place. We must end political correctness in dealing with this issue.
1. We know that in the past, the authorities moved some slum dwellers to areas outside Freetown for their own safety in some pilot program. The story we got later is that some of them sold their new lands and returned to the slums telling the world how clever they were.
2. As with everything in this country, politics is always part of the consideration and those slum dwellers know how to play one politician up against the other. Very soon politicians will appear in those ruins and offer a few bags of rice and tarpaulin and grab pictures for social media portraying themselves as champions of the poor. The very people will turn their largely self-inflicted pain into an unimaginable political football. Sadly, the media are now part of the game.
3. Next, the NGOs will get in on the act. They are always looking for opportunities to write project proposals asking for funding. One of them told us years ago that instead of taking the people out of the slums, the slum should be taken out of the people. We asked them to make that position a topic for a University dissertation and with a dedicated supervisor that should land them a FIRST CLASS.
USING OUR ROADS TO STORE BUILDING MATERIALS
This is now a common practice that must stop. Not too long ago we read a press release from the Sierra Leone Roads Authority warning against the habit of people building houses using our roads as stores from sand and stones. It’s not as if they would pour the items on the roads for a few hours and then clear the road again. Sometimes it lasts for weeks, even months and during that period vehicular and pedestrian movement is badly disrupted. Iron rods have also now appeared on the streets. Those in the habit are big people and their workers are thus hostile, leaving community people powerless against them
Those who are in this habit know very well that they are infringing on the rights of other Sierra Leoneans but they just don’t care. This is something that must stop immediately. It’s happening in many places so both the smiling Tik Tok Mayor and the SLRA cannot tell us this is news to them. In fact why would SLRA issue a press statement about something they know nothing about?
We are living in a city where some people think they can do anything. This is a country where politicians like the Tik Tok Mayor believe they should first consider politics before the welfare of the good people of Sierra Leone.
To issue a press release and not back it up with action is to tell the subjects of your statement to always ignore you because you are not serious about anything. We will get to a point where ordinary people will take action against such abuse and at that point, we will come back to expose those who saw the wound festering but did nothing.
CLOSE THE DISABILITY CAMP AT PADEMBA NOW
We complained a lot when Tolongbo opened that camp for disabled people along Pademba road near the prison yard. FIVE years on, the camp has expanded and become a real scar on our collective consciences. We know New Direction people drive along that road daily and come face to face with the misery in that little space. Why is nobody saying anything about that? Why is the disability commission of all organizations turning a blind eye to this very serious situation? On the face of it those Sierra Leoneans living in that camp think they are fine but scratch that surface a bit and the real feelings about their living conditions would reveal.
We don’t believe in having colonies of people living with disabilities anywhere in this country. They are Sierra Leoneans just like us who should live with their families with the state providing whatever support is available for them. They should get all the help they need to fend for themselves and their families.
Tolongbo tried to solve a problem but ended up creating an even bigger one in that prominent part of Freetown. We have to destroy that picture and find a way of accommodating our brothers and sisters in decent places.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (29/05/24)
