Dateline Freetown, Siera Loeine
A mudslide disatster? Can it happe again in Freetown? Yes, says our special correspondent.
Last year’s catastrophy resulted in over 1000 deaths, destroyed hundreds of houses and rendered thousands of people homeless.
The probem, accoding to our Correspondent, is that no lessons have been learnt from last year’s, and no measures have been put in place to prevent a recurrence.
Not surprisingly, the citizens blame the government for insensitivity. Sierra Leone’s government is reported to have taken possession of 52 houses donated by construction companies.
But rather than using them to help the mudslide victims, the governmnet is trying to commercialize the allocation of the houses.
As of last month, it’s yet to decide what to do with the substantial donations for disaster relief, reportedly running into milllions of dollars.
In the absence of government’s preventive intervention, those whose houses on the hillside were destroyed by the landslide last year are now rebuilding them.
No new drainage systems have been constructed in the hillsides. Refuse is stil being dumped haphazardly.
The subsoil is now even weaker, waiting for the next torrential rains to slide down again and wreck havoc.
There are historical reasons for Freetown’s situation.
Freetown was built in the late 18th century, on a valley beside one of the world’s deepest natural harbours on one side, surrounded by hills on the other sides.
The city expanded upwards , higher and higher on the hills.
As more and more houses were built, grounds were cleared, trees felled, loosening the subsoil.
As more and more people moved into these houses, man of them ramshackles, refuse pilled up on already inadequate drains, clogging up the downward flow of water.
So, when the heavy rains fell, and Freetown always has the heavyest in Africa, water could not flow away. It remained stagnant and the subsoil gave way.
There is welcome news. The government intends to create an agency for disaster response.
That means that in case of another disaster, the first reaction would be local first aid before the telephones from Freetown start ringing frantically, begging for immediate foreign assistance.
