By Kenneth Thompson
Sierra Leone National Tourist Board has blamed the Freetown City Council, FCC, for what it said was the filthiness of the Aberdeen to Lumley beach stretch.
Speaking during a meeting at the Tourist Board Secretariat, General Manager, Cecil Williams explained that it was not their responsibility to clean the beach, but they were doing so to ensure that they kept the beach clean and attractive.
“It’s the sole responsibility of Freetown City Council to clean the city and the beach inclusive”, he argued, adding that FCC had been collecting money from owners of beach bars and restaurants but had failed to perform their duties as authorities responsible to clean the city.
He called on the Mayor Franklin Bode-Gibson to consider deploying some of their workers to take up the cleaning activities along the beach.
“We don’t have the equipment to clean the beach.We have been helping FCC.It is high time they owned up to their responsibilities”, he said.
Williams insisted that their responsibilities were to “regulate the activities of not only beach bars along the beach but also the tourism sector across the country”.
Member of Parliament for Constituency for constituency 111, David Johnson, called on the council to take up their responsibility of cleaning the beach seriously, saying “I have been blamed a lot for the filth around the beach, but it’s the responsibility of council to clean it”.
Public Relations Officer of the Freetown city council said the cleaning of Aberdeen and Lumley beacheswas part of the mandate of the tourism board, adding that “if the owners of the beach bars and restaurants want the beach to be cleaned by council through Masada, they should contact Masada through city council so that an arrangement can be reached”.
He pointed out that the tourist board was directly responsible for undertaking such affairs as they relate to the beach, and urged that they work with the arm of city council responsible for cleaning so that a regular cleaning exercise of the beach could be arranged.
He said the council didnot have any authority regarding the control or maintenance of the Lumley/Aberdeen beaches.
(C) Politico 03/12/13
