On Thursday 26th November 2020 several stakeholders at the King Jimmy market in Freetown decried its dilapidated condition. The market is one of the famous trading grounds in the city popularised in a song titled, ‘King Jimmy Bonga Sweet’. But, this once glorious trading centre is now mired in poor and run down makeshift structures, poor sanitation and hygienic conditions, and encroachment.
A boat owner and sea captain from Bullom in Lungi, Santigie Bangura who lands his “Lungi Express 3” boat at King Jimmy market regularly, reminisced about the olden days when he used to escort his father to trade at the market. “I was around 12 to 13 years in the 80s and early 90s when I started coming to King Jimmy. This place was having a jetty, and a market structure. But now they are no more. The people sit under sheds and during the rainy season, they suffer a lot,” he said. “We come with palm oil, plassas, fish, vegetables, coconut and livestock: goat, sheep, local fowl from Lungi and its environs. But now the place is in poor shape.”
The boat captain said they charge Le7,000 per passenger for a trip across the Rokel channel, compared to the ferry at Le15,000 and speed boat, Le30,000. Meanwhile, the charge for goods varies by size and quantity. For his part, Lamin Sillah, another captain said, “Since the King Jimmy market structure was demolished, it has not been reconstructed. This has led squatters to encroach on the market space by building shacks. Now the size of the market place is reduced. The King Jimmy bonga fish is still coming, but trading is being hampered by poor infrastructure.”
Meanwhile, the harbour master of the wharf, Abu Bakarr Sesay said King Jimmy is a “luma” market that happens thrice a week. “The market is full on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. When goods are available up to eight boats can land here at a time. Then, traders from Cow Yard, Kroo Town Road market, Congo market up to Funkia in Goderich come to buy here to go and sell. In a busy day over 1,000 to 2,000 people come here to trade per week. The people from Lungi when they are returning, they go with goods to sell in their area,” he stated.
Abdulai Kamara, an elderly man commenting on how the trading system has changed said, “Before the people who come from Lungi and its environs to sell did not understand the city life, so they will give their goods to middlemen who will sell and give them their money. But now that has changed.”
The traders, captains and the harbour master are all calling on the authorities to come to their aid by reconstructing the market. “We need rescue boats right now, because if any accident occurs, we do not have rescue boats to help us at sea; even in Lungi where we come from there are no rescue boats. The jetty too needs to be constructed,” Bangura pleaded.
Every trading day, the Freetown City Council (FCC) collects Le1,000 from the traders at the market. The council has sweepers that ensure that the rubbish is gathered and disposed of. “There is plan on the way to construct a modern market structure at King Jimmy next year. That will solve most of the street trading issue in the city,” the head of Environment, Health and Sanitation, FCC, Sorie Alpha Kamara averred.
Moreover, Ibrahim Bendu said they have sweepers, waste collectors and tricycles that collect waste, adding: “The sweepers collect the waste and dump it at the bridge where FCC comes and collects it for onward disposal.”
By David Thoronka & Anthony Macauley (Intern)