Environmental Degradation fights back in Makeni

By: Alusine Rehme Wilson

Yesterday, hundreds of cars, motorbikes and residents of some places in the Northern city of Makeni tasted the effect of unrestricted littering of wastes disposal, cutting down of trees and related environmental degradation practices. Along the main Mabanta-Lunsar road, Magburaka-Kamal Streets Junction, lower banana street, Lady’s mile to name but a few like residents of some houses in the areas spent hours bailing out water from their rooms, cars, motorbikes and pedestrians similarly floated and sunk on roads and streets where a Tuesday 5 hours long down pouring of rain gave birth to a flash flood.

It’s the first time environmental degradation is fighting back since heavy rainfall, storm and flooding destroyed houses in Makeni municipality and its environs in the early morning hours of Tuesday, June 28, 2022 that ignited some responses from a few community based organisations, as well as cosmetic risk prevention cleaning of streets and irrigation of canals by both the Makeni City Council (MCC) and Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA).

By the magnitude of damages caused by the recent flash-flooding on locals of the city of Makeni and its environs some of whom have alarmed losing their houses, rented dwelling places, monies kept for very important personal purposes and other valuable properties to the Tuesday flash flooding, the insincerity on proper waste management and the unregulated construction of permanent structures on swampy and hilly areas by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies is once again exposed.

It’s also evident that the indiscriminate air and land pollution, deforestation, land disturbance, landfills, overpopulation the list goes on, is growing on high in Makeni and its surroundings since such flooding which for the past five years are expected to happen in August now occurs two months earlier if not tackled speedily for the good of the locals will force many residents of Makeni to become homeless while live and properties will continually be claimed by such sudden disaster. To help make way to prevent recurrence of such dangers in the city once rated nationally as the cleanest, to never again led to depletion of the ozone layer that protects the earth form vicious attacks causing loss for the tourism industry, the city’s biodiversity and economy all impacting human life, public education and sensitization of the masses on the dangers of environmental degradation, use of plastic must be minimized, plastic and other wastes must be recycled for reused, by laws must be developed, strong government commitments on the strict implementation of regulations to protect the environment and above all deforestation and building on swampy, wet and hilly land in Makeni must be considered for a quick and sustainable end of the perpetual disaster.

(C): Awoko Newspaper - alusinerehme.wilson@awokonewspaper.sl