Flood mitigation exercises carried out by the Freetown City Council included digging out ditches and drainages to allow water to flow towards the ocean. The ditch and drainage clearing exercise was implemented in some disaster prone areas in the city. Yet, during the recent torrential rains, many areas of Freetown were flooded causing death and damage to buildings. The Councilor for Ward 407 in Congo Water, Wellington, in the East of Freetown, Agnes Marrah, said the Ward was free from major flooding. Councilor Marrah took part in the monthly cleaning exercise. She said the drainage and ditch clearing had a positive effect and reduced the flooding in the Ward. “My Ward was safe from flooding, which other wards experienced last Friday, thanks to the two flood mitigation exercises,” Councilor Marrah noted. She added there was more work to be done to continue making sure that the Ward stays safe from flooding. “We will continue sensitizing the people and we will continue to seek more support from the government to continue the flood mitigation exercises.”
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She said, “People in the Ward are willing to come out and partake in the Saturday cleaning exercise. People are ready to remove their waste from compounds to the transit point for disposal.” Councilor Marrah pointed out measures have been put in place to sensitize other Wards to take out their garbage to waste collectors to do the dumping at designated sites. The cleaning day in Ward 407 was not 100% successful. Some residents in the Ward raised concerns about the inadequate number of vehicles to transport waste from different communities. One resident said there was only one waste transit point, which they find difficult to access. Marrah said there were two trucks and the coordinators made sure the garbage is removed by the end of the day.
AG/5/8/19
By Abdulai Gbla
Tuesday August 06, 2019.
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