Speaking on behalf of the residents, the community Chief Pa Alimamy Daramy emphasized that the reason for their request is because of health hazards that is prone in the community and unforeseen disasters that might occur. He further explained that when the site was established in the eastern part of Freetown it had a sparse population, but that because of the growing population, although the site is not suitable for living, more people have been arriving seeking shelter because they are too poor to pay rent in other areas.
According to the residents, the dump site is causing sicknesses, accidents and other dangers, and so, they are pleading with the government to relocate the site to avoid these disasters in the near future.
It is very difficult for people to live around dump sites because of the challenges posed to healthy living and the area being prone to other disasters. Reverend William Kamara is a stakeholder in the community, and explained to AYV that three of his children fell sick with typhoid and malaria recently and that he believes that they acquired the disease due to the unhealthy environment.
He is therefore calling on the government to save their children by relocating the dump site. He further explained that the smoke is caused by the dump site workers who normally burn tires for other uses. He said this particular smoke is hazardous and causes discomfort among the residents.
How this is affecting them directly, especially those living very close to the mountains of garbage Abdul Sesay, a young man who shares a fence with the dump site explained that he works everyday in his backyard clearing his drainage to avoid flooding, but that he is still afraid that the area will flood as the rains are now here.
As the rainy season is now here the residents say they are scared of what the rains may bring in the form of air and water borne diseases and other dangers. They are therefore pleading with government to rescue them immediately in order to avert any regrettable calamity in the near future.