By Septimus Senessie in Kono
A violent wind has destroyed over 50 houses in the eastern district of Kono, leaving hundreds homeless and destroying property worth millions of leones. Nobody was killed, but affected people said their plantations were also destroyed leaving them with nothing to eat. In the chiefdom headquarter town of Tankoro, especially a place called Bayama Town, over 20 houses, including ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines were destroyed. In Bumpeh, Nyambundu and Gbekor in the Nimikoro Chiefdom over 35 houses, including a three-class-room primary school building were also demolished. Assistant town chief of Bayama, Moses Lebbie, said his people, among them children were now sleeping at the town Barrie whiles others were sheltering with their relatives and friends whose houses survived the storm. Senior section chief in the Nimikoro chiefdom, Richard Fears, said such disasters were common in the chiefdom, adding that last year there was another serious storm disaster in the same Nyamundu Town in which over 30 houses were also badly damaged. He said they would be embarking on massive tree planting exercise to afforest areas in the chiefdom that were deforested by artisanal mining and called on people and humanitarian organisations to come to their aid. Coordinator in the Office of National Security, Mohamed Bagapoma Bangura told Politico that although they oversee the committee set up for disaster management they do not have the financial strength to effectively function in addressing disasters and disaster-related issues in the district. He said they were not receiving any special funding from the government of Sierra Leone. “We only depend on our partners like NGOs to help us reach the victims of disasters in the district,” he said, adding that over the years there had been so much natural disasters in the district due to timber logging.
