By: Marian Magdalene Bangura
The Freetown City Council has announced a bold and far-reaching Central Business District (CBD) Regeneration and Beautification Project, designed to restore order, improve sanitation, and elevate the overall visual appeal of Sierra Leone’s capital.
The initiative was formally presented during a press conference held at the Miatta Conference Centre and hosted by the Minister of Information and Civic Education, Hon. Chernor Bah. Speaking at the event, Madam Koma Hassan-Kamara, FCC’s Information, Education, and Communication Officer, described the project as a timely response to the city’s growing urban challenges and an alignment with both municipal and national development priorities.
“This initiative is coming at the right time,” Madam Kamara stated. “We’ve been advocating for support around beautification, regulated parking, and street trading control in the CBD for the past couple of years. Now that the central government is aligned with us, we believe we can make real progress.”
One of the Council’s initial steps under the project involved decongesting the area surrounding the iconic Cotton Tree, which had become increasingly unsafe due to an influx of informal traders and beggars. Kamara noted that uncontrolled street trading in unauthorized zones remains a major challenge inherited by the current administration.
She also identified rural-urban migration as a root cause of the city’s disorganized growth.
“Many people come to Freetown from the provinces in search of quick income and begin trading or operating okadas (motorbike taxis) without regulation or designated spaces,” she explained. “That’s where many of our urban challenges begin.”
In response, the Council plans to enforce designated trading zones more strictly, working closely with the Traders’ Council and other relevant stakeholders.
The Council also aims to tackle the frequent illegal dumping of construction materials on public roads a practice that disrupts both pedestrian and vehicular movement across the city.
Under the newly introduced 2025 Sanitation Bylaw, specific regulations have been established to curb such practices and promote the proper use of public spaces.
“We’ve had too many cases where sand and gravel are dumped on roads, blocking traffic and causing delays,” Kamara remarked. “This is happening citywide east, west, and central and we are committed to putting an end to it.”
At the heart of the regeneration initiative is FCC’s flagship program C2CC Central to Clean and Controlled, which seeks to bring structure, safety, and beauty back to the city’s central zone.
Key components of the C2CC initiative include installation of modern street lighting, introduction of regulated parking zones, restoration of green public spaces, enforcement of sanitation rules and implementation of no-street-trading areas.
The project will be executed in collaboration with national agencies such as the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) and the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA), among others.
“We don’t want to do this alone,” Kamara said. “We are partnering with national agencies to transform the CBD into a space that reflects discipline and civic pride.”
Kamara emphasized that the issues of urban disorder and lawlessness are not confined to the CBD alone.
“This is a city-wide issue,” she stressed. “Our mandate may be limited, but we continue to call for greater devolution of authority from the central government so we can manage the city more effectively.”
With strong backing from both national institutions and local stakeholders, the Freetown City Council is confident that the C2CC project will herald a new era of urban transformation making the capital safer, cleaner, and more attractive for residents, tourists, and investors alike.
“Nobody wants to visit or invest in a city that is unsafe or unregulated,” Kamara concluded. “This project is about restoring discipline, creating beauty, and laying the foundation for sustainable urban growth.”