A cross-section of Freetonians have frowned on the many complaints coming from illegal slum dwellers around the city demanding assistance, and are calling on the Government through the Freetown City Council to discourage slum dwelling, saying it will reduce the heavy burden on Government to always respond to them when heavy floods wreak havoc in these communities. Though slum communities are common around the world, many governments dislike but have to either accommodate or come to terms with them. In Sierra Leone people prefer to dwell in slums for several reasons, but when disaster happens they cry to Government for support.
All of last week started with little overnight showers and by daybreak main roads and streets around the city overflowed with debris and silt in drainages. As part of its Transform Freetown Project, the FCC introduced the flood mitigation project, with the aim to clear and clean all blocked drainages and gutters around the municipality, but some people are still stubborn and continue to use drainages and gutters as garbage bins, and this activity is more common in slum communities.
Along main roads and streets, huge amounts of water flowed over blocked drainages making driving and riding very difficult, because the heavy flow of water makes it impossible to see the drainages from the street, as was also reported in other parts of the country.
Down at New London, under the Peace Bridge along the Main Motor road, which is supposed to be an official outlet for drainages and gutters around Hill Cut, King Harman road and parts of Brookfield’s community, over the years has been converted to a residential community. Residents around the banks of the stream have constructed retaining walls to keep the water away, but Mariatu Sesay explained, “No one can challenge nature, especially when there is a heavy downpour accompanied by fierce storms. Part of the retaining wall fell apart and the frontage of two structures was swept away, leaving residents homeless, as a result of heavy downpour”.
She added that slum life is unbearable during the rains and is seriously thinking of relocating to avoid being made homeless. Sierra Leone is not digitally equipped with up to date storm radar to predict bad weather conditions, which makes the situation even worse this time around, as the rains get heavier accompanied by storms. Recently slum residents at Falcon Bridge felt the blow of a flood disaster, when millions of Leones worth of property was swept away to the sea.
Brima Conteh from one of the regions said Government over the years did its best to address the needs of flood victims, but the solution to the age old problem is for the Sierra Leone Housing Corporation in collaboration with the FCC and other partners to step-up their game and construct low cost housing facilities for citizens, as this will help discourage and decongest the over 61 illegal settlements.
“Most of the slum dwellers come from rural communities and migrate to the city in search of a better life. They have no business in Freetown, because they abandon their farms and beautiful natural environment and prefer to enter the informal sector of petty trading, which makes it difficult for them to earn a decent living and accommodation,” he noted with disappointment.
Officials at the Office of National Security (ONS) together with partners that are responsible for disaster management have assured that they are in a state of preparedness to address flooding emergencies in communities, but Boissie Allen a civil engineer had an opposite view that Government and NGOs should desist from responding to such disasters which will serve as a deterrent to slum dwelling.
He added that as humans they have a right to life, but “If they continue to reside in disaster prone areas after several warnings from Government, and their population continues to rise, I see no reason why Government and NGOs should continue assisting these people, meaning they are encouraged to settle in slums”.
Allen added that when disasters happen in illegal settlements, Government and partners are overwhelmed with the responsibility to step in and give the necessary assistance. It can be recalled that some years back, Government with support from the World Bank compensated illegal residents of the Peace Bridge and other communities living directly under the Bumbuna network lines to safeguard them against radiation. Some of them moved out, but according to officials from the Energy Ministry and the Radiation Agency, the population has doubled over the years, and residents continue to expose themselves to radiation and flood risk.
By Ade Campbell