April 12, 2017 By Victoria Saffa
Residents of Portee community, east end of Freetown, are at risk of contracting diseases as the community has been recently engulfed by heaps of rubbish.
The situation has urged residents to call on both local and international organisations to address the problem of poor sanitation before things get out of control. Residents also expressed grave concern over the manner at which most people in the community have been disposing garbage in drainages very close to their neighbours.
Momoh Conteh, whose house is very close to the community drainage, told Concord Times that people were in the habit of disposing garbage into the drainage, making it very difficult for the free flow of water.
“We are at risk of contracting malaria, cholera and other diseases caused by poor sanitation. We have been telling people to stop dumping garbage in the gutter. Most times, the act is done at night when most people would have gone to bed,” he said.
Another resident, Tenneh Kamara said the community drainage has been in existence for years now, thus expressing similar frustration as the former.
“Our community has now become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. We cannot sleep at night without mosquitoe coil and sheltox. Two of my kids have contracted malaria. I am just frustrated about the way our neighbours have been treating us by dumping their garbage in the gutter,” she expressed her frustration.