June 16, 2016 By Victoria Saffa
Some 12,000 residents of Up-Mountain community in Wellington, eastend of Freetown, would soon benefit from a newly constructed water dam.
The Up-Mountain community in Wellington is one of the most deprived communities in the poor eastern district of Freetown where thousands struggle to access clean drinking water.
Speaking to journalists during a tour facilitated by WASH-NET, Councilor Mohamed J. Tholley of Ward 350 in Constituency 097 stated that the project to construct the dam was facilitated by him after he received Le96 million from Heineken Africa Foundation through Sierra Leone Brewery.
He said though the Le96 million was not enough to complete the construction of the dam, they have implemented the project halfway, adding that they have requested another Le25 million from Sierra Leone Brewery.
“I facilitated the project for the construction of the dam, but it has taken six months due to lack of sufficient fund. I facilitated the project because I saw the constrain people were faced with in accessing water. Most of them were using unprotected sources of water,” he explained.
He said they had held a community meeting with stakeholders and youths for the protection of the dam, adding that they have also sensitised people to discourage them from constructing dwelling houses near the dam.
“I have also been calling on the community people not to dispose garbage or faeces close to the dam. We have also started constructing public taps in the community and we have constructed five of them,” he said.
Mayo Koroma, a community stakeholder, thanked Sierra Leone Brewery and the Ward Councilor for their support in constructing the dam, adding that water crisis in their community was a major problem.
He said the construction of the dam would ease their problem.
“We are going to protect and maintain the dam so that it will serve us for years. I am therefore calling on the government and other well-wishers to help us complete the construction of the dam,” he urged.