By Ibrahim S. Bangura
Bar owners at the Aberdeen Beach in the west of Freetown have complained that they have lost over millions of Leones during the demolition of their bars and restaurants by the National Tourism Board in January and February of 2024.
According to some of the affected persons, four months ago, they had been informed by the Tourism Ministry in a meeting that bar owner should upgrade their structures because their buildings were not in line with the Ministry’s expectations. They said that they had been told that because the beach was a touristic attraction, the view of the sea needed to be unobstructed, and since their bar structures were too high to achieve that goal, they should demolish and upgrade them.
Nanah Turay, one of the affected persons, said that they were then given a plan of what the Ministry had suggested that their bars should look like. “I then had to go ahead and demolish a structure which I had spent over Le 7, 000,000 to erect. I have to upgrade my bar according to what I was told. On Saturday, February 3, 2024, to my surprise, I saw a truck full of police together with some thugs with power saws, hammers and hacksaws at the beach demolishing our bars. That was a heart-breaking moment for me, thinking of the amount of money I had spent and how to raise that money and return it to the owners,” Turay said.
She stated that she was neither against the Government, nor the Ministry for their action. “But why did they allow us to spend millions of Leones to upgrade our bars and later demolished them? As a single parent of three children, I went to the extent and loaned Le 200,000,000 just to upgrade my bar as the Ministry wanted it. Where should I raise that amount of money at this time? We are pleading to the Ministry to help solve this issue. It is seriously affecting not only us, but also our families who are solely depending on us for everything. Many of us have decided to trade here since we don’t want to involve into prostitution,” she explained.
Sahr Wainde, another affected person, said that even though he did all what the National Tourism Board asked him to do his bar was demolished. He said, “After we had been asked by Nabela Tunis the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs in a meeting that we should upgrade our beach bars, I went ahead and demolish my first bar structure; and to upgrade it, I have to spend over Le 12,000,000. Now, where should I get that money back to return it where it was loaned? What I do not understand till now is why the other bars, which our bars were far better off, have not been demolished. This is painful.”
Wainde said that he has five children whom he takes care of. He stressed that he no longer had any source of income to support his family.
Mohamed Kamara, a labourer at Kamish Beach Bar, said that he had lose his job and with it his survival.
He said that he used to fetch water, wash plates, among other domestic works at Kamish Bar so as to get something to eat in the end. “Now I am jobless. Should I go into stealing, robbing people, dealing in drugs? No. I won’t do that. Do ya papa government sorry for we. I don’t want to get involved into criminal acts just to get my living. Please see to our constraints,” said Kamara.
Premier News tried to engage the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and the National Tourist Boards on three occasions with regards to the demolition of the bars but we could not succeed despite efforts.
But in some of the letters given to some of the beach bar owners in September 2023, National Tourist Board stated that the bar owners had violated the rules and guidelines of the National Tourist Board, Lumley Beach Bars Association and Lumley Bar Property Owners Association. The letter stated: “As assessment of your bars has been undertaken and it was noted that you have violated number five (V) of the policy guidelines…proper waste management mechanism for operation of Beach bars. Additionally, your beach bar does not reflect the standard set for beach bar facility by the National Tourism Board. In the view above, you are required to reconstruct or reconstruct your beach bar into a standard and quality facility that will be appealing to tourists/visitors and general public within one (1) month (from 25th September to 25th October 2023), and to also put in place proper toilet and waste collection and disposal mechanism. The National Tourism Board is mandated to ensure that, the aforementioned issues are addressed for the operations of Standard and Environmental friendly beach frontage facilities.”