July 25, 2016 By Joseph S. Margai
The practice of throwing filth in drainages in Freetown, especially when it is raining, has drawn irk from officials of the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA).
Public Relations Officer Abdul Karim Dumbuya, who was speaking to Concord Times last Thursday at his SLRSA office in Freetown, said that when domestic wastages are poured into drainages, there will not be a free flow of water when it is raining, adding that the water will then flood the street and may lead to accident.
He said the practice of throwing filth into drainages undermines the country’s efforts to achieve the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety.
“When there is a blockage in the flow of water in these drainages, the water will overflow and come to the street and if drivers are not careful they will involve in road accident because the street may be flooded. When the roads are flooded, the drivers will not see clearly where they will be going and that could make them hit pedestrians,” he said and added that if a pedestrian is hit by a vehicle the victim might get deformed or even killed.
He said besides the problems that vehicle drivers may face when the street is flooded during the rains, those who push carts may also get involve in road accidents as they might hit a pedestrian or even fall in drainages and in the process hurt themselves.
“Even school going children are also at risk because when the roads are flooded they will not be able to return home from school. Those who may attempt to go home, may fall down in the drainages and hurt themselves,” he explained.
He said pedestrians who walk on footpaths are also at risk because they might fall into the drainages when the roads are flooded and hurt themselves.
“The throwing of wastages in the drainages has several negative impacts on road safety. We have been making efforts to achieve the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety but human activities on the road pose a huge threat in making that dream a reality. I want the people to know that the lives they save are theirs and means they should be vey careful in the way they handle their lives,” he admonished.
He said SLRSA has been engaging radio stations across the country in order to warn people to abstain from this negative act, adding that people especially in Freetown are still throwing filth into drainages, despite the Authority’s efforts to urge people to stop.
The PRO posited that if road traffic crashes, which are responsible for many loss of lives in recent years, are to be prevented, citizens should start to take responsibility of certain things they do on the road.
“The drainages are there but because some people are in the habit of just filling them with wastages, they get overflowed when it’s raining. There are some people who do not want to take their domestic wastages to dumpsites, they have transformed the drainages which are meant for the free flow of water when it’s raining into dumpsites,” he said.
He called on the Freetown City Council to institute bye-laws that could be used to impose fines on those that throw filth into drainages.