Reporting from Freetown | November 18, 2016

This is a newsletter about young people in Freetown. Some of the things that affect them are mostly political, environmental, levels of education, parenting, athletics, fashion, music, recreation, relationships, and economics.

The picture below portrays a disaster that occurred on 17 November 2016. There was heavy rainfall the whole of yesterday, which led to flooding at the Bomeh Akram community. 

Bomeh is located just after Ferry Junction in the east end of Freetown. It's named “bomeh” because it was a site set aside for dumping waste from homes, offices, and business centers. 

Yesterday’s flooding destroyed many houses and property, and residents lost their livelihood. A lot of them have got no place to go.  

One of the reasons for the disaster is the community is used as a dumpsite. The dirt was out of control but people didn't stop disposing of refuse and sewage. Officials responsible for amending the situation did nothing. So when the rain kept coming, the water couldn't pass freely because of the dirt. 

The other reason was the cutting down of trees by the residents to sell and sustain their lives. 

It’s not only this community that has suffered a loss. 

Other people have as well in different communities around Freetown and other parts of the country. 

Last year, some people lost their lives and their family treasures. And now it has occurred again many have fallen victim. Measures need to be put in place to stop such disasters occurring in the future. 

Many Sierra Leoneans are wondering whether another year will turn out like the previous one and this, especially those who are based down the valleys and those in dilapidated areas.

Reporting from Freetown, I'm Inyilla Conteh




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ebola: The More We Learn, the More We Realize How Much We Don't Know

Image
Alex Bonapha, chairman, Kailahun District Council O bservers say the controversy erupting in Kailahun over the case of a dead baby might just open up critical questions on the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. "While the child appears to be at the center of this controversy, the real question being raised here is the mode of transmission: Is this virus transmitted or transfused?" asks Chernor Bah, chairman of the African Socialist Movement of Sierra Leone. Bah thinks “we need to listen to Mr. Bonapha's concerns.” A lex Bonapha is chairman of Kailahun District Council. In a tersely worded statement sent out Saturday, Bonapha said: "We are strongly contesting the validity of the one case today in Kailahun.  A young child of 9 months, fell ill and was hospitalised at the Nixon Memorial Hospital in Segbwema. They requested blood transfusion and a donor offered his blood. Eventually the child died and a swab was collected to verify the cause of death. It is this...
Read more

28 Years Since the Death of Salami Coker

In words that echoed around the world, a commission of inquiry in Sierra Leone held the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) responsible for extrajudicial killings in1992. The junta's attempt to justify these executions retrospectively by decree, on the basis that the 26 people were alleged coup plotters, was an unlawful abuse of executive power, the commission said. In particular, the Commission found that the deputy chairman of the NPRC, Solomon A.J. Musa, was personally responsible for acts of torture on detainees. They called the executions a flagrant violation of international standards.   Among those executed on December 29, 1992, were: Lt. Col James Yaya Kanu, former commanding officer of the 4th Battalion James Bambay Kamara, former Inspector General of Police Corporal Mohammed Mansaray, alias Candapa of the 1st Battalion Warrant Officer Class 1 Kargbo, alias Fernando of the 1st Battalion headquarters Lieutenant colonel (Rtd.) Kahota M.S. Dumbuya, Army Head...
Read more

'Magazine Has Lost A Son'

Image
President Koroma sympathizes with the Fadika family Tuesday, August 8 Moseray Fadika was a keynote speaker at yet another event Friday, Aug. 5, when he felt ill and was rushed to an emergency room.  The man would die later that evening at the Royal London Hospital, in Whitechapel, east London. The cause of death is still unknown.  Fadika’s sudden loss has sent shockwaves through Sierra Leoneans online, across the small West African country and around the world. Frost Illustrated, a weekly newspaper in Fort Wayne, Indiana, described the popular  businessman-philanthropist turned politician as one of the wealthiest men in Sierra Leone, who built his fortune in extractive industries. Sierra Leone is rich in mineral resources. Diamonds, gold, bauxite, rutile and iron ore are known to exist in large quantities. Fadika never made Forbes Africa’s wealthiest lists, and no one knows just how much he was really worth. But by some estimates, he could have been Sier...
Read more