Pa Alimamy Mansaray, a community elder at Old Wharf in Wellington in the east of Freetown, has on Saturday July 4, 2020 said that the community lacks pipe borne water, good road and public toilets.
According to Pa Mansaray, residents of the community pay Le 3,000 for a five-gallon jerrycan full of water usually drawn from any of the two water-wells within the community, adding that even with money, sometimes they go without water because the wells could not support the population residing in the community because it is normal for all the water to be scooped to its bare floor.
“We drink well water here. This community has remained over twenty years without pipe borne water,” he said.
He added that lack of public toilet facility in the community has caused an unsanitary state in the community with some people using an open space in the slum areas to defecate. He added that the community had missed out on development projects because it has bad roads.
“Other communities used to get support from the government, but here we have been neglected because of the poor road network. We have cried out to our councilor and the government, but no one has yet paid attention to us. We are still appealing to them to see us as part of the country,” he emphasized.
He criticized the lack of support from the government in the fight against the coronavirus in the community, adding that they had no face masks, Veronica buckets, and soap which he said had made the fight against the coronavirus more difficult.
By Ibrahim S. Bangura
07/07/2020. ISSUE NO.: 7860