AYV News, July 24, 2024
At the Presidential Townhall ongoing at the Freetown (Bintumani) International Conference Center in Aberdeen, Sierra Leone’s President Dr. Julius Maada Bio said his government is going to break all houses above the Green Belt on the mountains of the Freetown Peninsula.
President Bio said: “Even if a house belongs to him or his family, it would be broken down. This radical stance is because of the accelerated deforestation which is causing loss of forest in the water catchment area, and could deny the people of Freetown water to drink; and is responsible for the ongoing flooding in Freetown”.
In September 2023, President Bio received the report, with recommendations, from the committee that was commissioned in 2022 and mandated to investigate the extent, causes and implications of encroachment into the Western Area Peninsula National Park, WAPNP.
Chief Minister, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh, told President Bio that members of the committee were in his office to submit their report, adding that they discovered that there were lots of human encroachment on the forest reserve area around Guma Valley Dam.
He said the Greenbelt was first established in 1916 and was reviewed in 2013 but human activities had encroached the reserve and subsequently posed a serious threat to human existence.
Presenting the report, Dr. Isata Mahoi, who was co-chair of the committee, said in April 2022, when a fire outbreak occurred within the Mile 13 Guma catchment area, it resulted in huge loss of forest cover within the WAPNP, which is closer to the Guma Dam and treatment facility.
“Subsequently, President Bio visited the site to see firsthand the extent of damage within a designated protected forest/greenbelt area close to the Guma facilities. One of the outcomes of the President’s visit was to set up an investigation committee,” she explained.
She informed the President that although the investigation committee’s report was submitted to the Inter-Ministerial committee, which led to the deployment of security personnel at different locations within the greenbelt area, the rate of deforestation and wild bushfires increased exponentially, posing threat to the Guma dam and human existence.
“The greenbelt covers an area of 18,337 hectares and 24% of the greenbelt area, between Mile 13 and Tokeh, has been encroached. From the study conducted, over 900 structures were found within the greenbelt along Mile 13 to Tokeh village,” she disclosed.
She said the committee recommended that the government should put an immediate ban on all activities within the greenbelt, all quarry mining, unwanted structures and illegal activities, adding that a physical boundary needs to be established around the greenbelt area.
“Demolish all structures above Green Belt in Freetown” – President Bio orders authorities
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