A 47-year-old stone miner, Mariatu Kamara has on Thursday September 17, 2020, told Premier News that due to the outbreak of Coronavirus in Sierra Leone, trading in stones has become increasingly difficult.
She made this statement at her work station at J. Mata, back of the perimeter fence of the Sierra Leone Grammar School, few metres from the Aberdeen Bridge on Sir Samuel Lewis Road.
Kamara cited that before COVID-19 sales in stone was adequately good, but she added that since its outbreak sales has dropped drastically which is affecting her family’s livelihood. “My children and I sometimes eat Garrie and palm oil when we are hungry,” she lamented.
She noted that before the outbreak of COVID-19, she had been enjoying influx of customers purchasing granite stones on a daily basis, used for building and other activities. She said that since the outbreak she hardly gets a customer per day to purchase even a head pan full of stones.
She complained that the act of breaking stones into small pieces is causing her body pains, hand fractures and other health problems, and added that she faces challenges to solicit medical treatment due to her current meager income status.
She explained that she normally pays men to break the larger stones into medium size, after which she would break them into the granite shape. She added that transforming the raw material into secondary product entails money.
“Normally when sales are stiff I cannot provide capital to start another business in complementing my trade and for survival,” she added.
She explained that she migrated from her village to Freetown in the year 2000 and formerly resided in Adonkia community in Goderich. She added that in order to survive she was involved in fish trading, which she has been doing until the year 2005, when her husband died. She said she was not able to continue her business as fishmonger because at that time she had run out of capital.
She noted that she made several efforts to be register for the World Bank and Government of Sierra Leone safety Net provided to cushion the economic impact on traders across the country; but “All my efforts were futile. I did not register nor do I receive money because the registration process was biased.”
She mentioned that the prices of stones vary, and it ranges from Le 3,000 to Le 10,000 per head pan, noting that what they would eat for a day depends on their sales.
Mariatu who hails from Bramia Chiefdom, Kambia Chiefdom is a mother of five children. She added that her children are presently attending school and they are in grades ranging from SS3, JSS2, Class 2 and nursery respectively.
“I have been doing stone mining to make ends meet for over 15 years because of my inability to read and write stone mining is my last resort to augment my livelihood,” kamara said.
She cited that because she lost her capital and was unable to pay her rents, she decided to live with her brother at Aberdeen Ferry road where she started to do stone mining for her sustenance and up keep her children.
By George M.O. Williams
21/09/2020. ISSUE NO: 7923