July 25, 2016 By Patrick Jaiah Kamara
There was a mad rush on Thursday (21 July) at the Bomeh dump site in the east end of Freetown where officials from the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and MASSADA waste management had gone to dump decomposed frozen chicken from Brazil.
The government has however refused to disclose the name of the importer of the consignment of frozen FRANGOSUL product from Brazil, despite questions from the media.
Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation, Zulainatu Cooper, told newsmen at a presser that the decomposed chicken was brownish in colour, rotten and smelly, but refused to name the importer.
A press release from the ministry stated that 75 percent of the chicken was crushed with mud, human, animal, domestic and industrial waste before it was dumped at the Bomeh site.
Yet, that did not dissuade residents of Bomeh and its environs to rush at the site and cart away undisclosed number of cartoons.
The release warned that the said chicken, if consumed, could cause diarrhea, cholera and helminthiasis, among a host of other diseases.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brima Kargbo some 40 policemen were deployed at the dump site but they could not stop the crowd from taking the decomposed chicken away.
When Concord Times made on the spot visit at Bomeh, one Memunatu Conteh told this reporter that she was alerted by one of those who came to dispose the consignment.
She said the ministry didn’t put the chicken in a pit but placed it in the open, while a caterpillar smashed the cartoons of chicken.
However, Concord Times learnt that police have made some arrest at the Doff Cut market, but police media boss, Assistant Superintendent Brima Kamara, could not confirm whether those arrested with the rotten product were detained, as we went to press.