By: Ilyasa Baa
Negligence of duty by the Traders’ and Drivers’ Unions together with the Western Area Rural District Council (WARDC) led to the gruesome container accident over the week end that claimed the lives of three people mainly traders.
The accident, though foreseen, has become a talk of the town as those that witnessed it could still not believe what they saw on Saturday around 11:30 am when the entire area was in full swing. The trailer, with a twenty feet container, lost control with no brake and it ended up hitting nearby shops in the process killed and wounded people.
Tombo park market is the biggest hosting hundreds of people daily especially during the week ends when residents even from the Western Urban reach Waterloo Tombo Park Market to buy items.
The Drivers’ Union operates an office space there with no effective monitoring to decongest the junction as its raises millions from collecting dues from the drivers.
The Traders’ Union is also in the business of collecting dues from the traders but doing nothing except blaming the Council that it fails to provide space for the traders which are under their purview as enshrined in the Local Government Act. Chairman of the Traders’ Union in the district, Albert Tarawallie has said the government through the local council is not able to deal with the issue of street trading noting that the issue is being politicised.
WARDC has blamed the traders saying they are uncontrollable. The out gone Chairman Kashow Cole had said the traders were leaving the spaces inside the market to sell in the street.
According to the Media and Spokesman of the Waterloo Police Station, ASP Alieu Jalloh, this is not the first-time accident had occurred along the main Waterloo Tombo Road. He said every day, their officers patrol from up the junction downwards sometimes arresting defaulters.
“We have been doing all that we suppose to do to ensure that the incidences of road accidents are minimised if not eradicated “, ASP Jalloh said, adding that the three dead were women whist the man injured is currently responding to treatment at the Waterloo Government Hospital.
It could be recalled that the Former Inspector General of Police, Ambrose Sovula, when he was the Local Unit Commander of the Waterloo Police Station in 2019, he introduced Operation Push Back which yielded dividends as the traders pushed away from the street only to return to street trading after sometime.