June 27, 2016 By Regina Pratt
Chief Alhaji Alimamy Kamara of Susans Bay has told Concord Times about grim conditions in the slum area, which according to him is exacarbated by garbbage and other waste materials deposited by inhabitants.
In an interview with this reporter at Susans Bay, he said they have no dustins in the sprawling slum community and as a result residents dump their garbbage into drainages which flood whenever it rains.
“Most of the waste that are deposited pass through the drainages as the area lacks dustbin,” he said.
He said their lives were in total danger because disaster could befall them at anytime, adding that they were also prone to diseases like cholera, malaria, dysentry, among others, due to poor sanitation in the area.
Some of the residents who preffered anonymity told Concord Times that they were willing to be relocated this raining season if government provide housing facilities for them.
They expressed fear living in that community. “Some of us are not confortable living in such conditions if only government could invest in housing,” they said.
In September last year, heavy rains overwhelmed slum communities around Freetown, causing few deaths and leaving thousands displaced.
Government relocated some of the flood victims to Mile Six, a settlement along the Freetown-Masiaka highway, although many have reportedly returned to those same vulnerable communities.