March 26, 2021
By Ilyasa Baa
Properties worth millions of Leones got destroyed by fire on Wednesday at Mabella in the East end of Freetown. An inferno broke out rendering thousands homeless.
Mayor of the Freetown Municipality, Aki-Sawyerr has said there would be a joint assessment of the fire incident as Council would work with the Office of National Security (ONS) and relevant authorities. She said the cause of the fire is not yet ascertained pointing out that lack of access was a factor responsible for the massive destruction that took place at Mabella and its environs. She said the use of single electrical meter by hosts of residents in that bay community is mostly responsible for the fire accidents taking place adding that Council has been warning against such practice. She also made mention about the way and manner people cook openly, all these, her Lordship maintained, are some of the factors responsible for the fire accidents taking place in the Municipality.
Eye witness accounts indicate that the geographical location of the area made it very difficult for officers from the Fire Force, who got assistance from youths of the community to put out the fire.
Stakeholders of Mabella have expressed their dissatisfaction over what they perceived as “looting of the victim” at a time they needed help. According to Sheikh Sesay, he could not quantify what he lost in the course of the rescue operation mounted by the youths.
The National Fire Force has intimated that the officer that was rumored to have died in the fire incident did not die as a result of the disaster but as a result of prolonged sickness at the hospital.
It could be recalled that few years ago, similar fire incident broke out in Susan’s Bay and investigation concluded that it was due to electrical fault.
These bay slum communities are largely over populated with decent as well as hoodlums turning the environment into a criminal den.
However, government in the past provided spaces for mudslide/flood survivors at Mile 6. Meanwhile, citizens are calling for the relocation of those shanty structures to avoid future disasters.