Rashid Turay, a community elder at the Lower Personage community in Kissy, east of Freetown, has said on Saturday July 18, 2020, that because the community lacks a proper drainage system it usually floods.
Turay said that the when it rains water fills the gutters and spills into their houses and sometimes spill on the surrounding areas which usually restricts the movement of people.
He said, “Flooding used to occur in this community every year. Recently, we lost most our valuables property and many houses were damaged as a result of flooding. Sometimes, we don’t go to sleep at night when it is raining fearing that houses will collapse and cover us. We are not safe here, but we don’t have any other place to go. We are appealing to the government to help us with drainages in order to make the community safer for us.”
He said that it is also common for people to defecate in the water where they also bathe and launder their cloths because the community lacks proper toilet facility
He said, “We are living in the slum area. We don’t have any public toilet here. Some residents used to defecate in their rubbers in the morning hour they empty it into the water where we used to take our and launder our cloths. They also use to use an open space in the slum to defecate. These all has affected.”
Mariatu Kamara, a trader who resides in the community, said that, she recently lost goods and money worth over Le3,000,000 after a heavy rain fall in the community which resulted into flooding. “After the flooding has taken place, I never saw my money and all of my goods became soaked. I sell sugar,” she said.
She added that they pay Le1, 000 for a five-gallon jerrycan full of water for drinking, adding that they usually cover a very long distance before they accessed it.
“Some children used to stay in the street for so long in order to fetch water which is very risky mostly for the girls.”
She appealed to the Government of Sierra Leone to help the community with a public toilet, a pure sources of water and also help control flooding by extending the gutters.
By Ibrahim S. Bangura
21/07/2020. ISSUE NO.: 7870