By: Audrey Raymonda John
The issue of travelling through the gateway to Sanda Magbolonthor Chiefdom right inside Kamakwie Town in the Karene District, Northern Sierra Leone is presently very tedious for indigenes in that part of the country due to the total breakdown of the Mabanta Ferry for the past four (4) months now.
According to stakeholders in that part of the country said to this medium, the ferry was damaged as a result of the overloading of timber logs, coal and heavy vehicles which were not supposed to use that route.
This medium learns that the breakdown of the Mabanta Ferry, which is a major option to Sanda Magbolonthor and Kamakwie Town, an untold suffering had fallen upon the indigenes and travellers to those areas, coupled with the general increase in transportation fares which currently stands at Two Hundred New Leones (NL 200) from Freetown to Sanda Magbolonthor Chiefdom and beyond. This medium further discovered that when the rugged road to that Chiefdom will be constructed, a vehicle can spend lesser than four hours, which is about 115 Miles from Freetown to Sanda Magbolonthor Chiefdom.
Traveller frequently travel to and from the Chiefdom they can’t afford to pay the huge charges involved to travel by road, they are using canoes as an option to cross the river, while some people also making use of bikes (Okadas) to travel by road into the Chiefdom with multiple charges.
In that regard, the suffering masses of Sanda Magbolonthor Chiefdom within Karene District are calling on the Government of Sierra Leone to step in and render a helping hand to construct a bridge so that the prevailing suffering among citizens in the Chiefdom can be mitigated or reduced, especially during the height of the rainy season