Hastings Taxi Bikers in Fear Following Violent Robberies
Two brutal attacks on motorbike taxi riders in the Kossoh town/Hastings axis within 24 hours has sent shock waves throughout the somewhat quiet Hastings community and environs. On Thursday a bike rider was set upon by a group of young men at night and his machine wrestled from him, even as he and a colleague who accidentally appeared on the scene, put up resistance.
The following night, the other biker who had tried to rescue his friend the night before was waylaid by a supposed passenger into an ambush and violently attacked by some men who slashed him on various parts of his head and body. His assailants then grabbed his brand new bike and disappeared into the night. This second victim was later taken to the Rokupa hospital where he remains in a critical condition.
The heart-rending aspect of the hospitalised rider is that the bike was bought a few days before the incident, by his sister-in- law, from the remainder of monies contributed by relatives and friends to cover burial expenses for his deceased elder brother who passed away at Hastings, some 2 months ago. The hope was that his running of the bike would go into supporting the very young children of his late brother.
This recent spate of attacks on bike riders has unnerved the young men of the peaceful Hastings community who eke a living from the commercial bike business. A seemingly well organized and ruthless band of thieves targeting bike taxi riders might be trying to gain a foothold in the area.
Fear and suspicion have swept through Hastings bike riders fraternity and that could be noticed by the few bikes running after 9 pm, the streets are virtually deserted. A few others who are brave enough to run beyond 9pm say they would not be deterred by the thieves and have vowed to bust them up sometime soon. But the men readily admitted it was too early to tell whether the attacks were orchestrated by people within the community or from outside.
The problem with some of our Sierra Leonean youths is that they would use all sorts of crude and violent methods to get money but shy away from earning it through hard work and legitimate means. Hastings is home to Sierra Leone’s premier police training school and we expect personnel at the community’s police station to be addressing these attacks very seriously, more so they happened in their very backyard.
Is the City Council Workers Strike a watershed of growing discontent?
The news of Freetown City Council (FCC) workers going on strike was a surprise to some people whilst others saw it coming. Madam Mayor of the Sun could not be seen on Wednesday - the day the protest started. Journalists were down there and for her to be missing in action for a possible interview is nothing new to a good number of journalists. Mayor of the Sun has a reputation for dodging or should we say snubbing of the press. Some say she does cherry picking as to which media houses she could avail herself to and many media people wanting to reach madam claim they do get the feeling of insulation around her by even just coming face to face with her office people.
Well on this latest strike, there is a restless set of workers at FCC who feel marginalized in the implementation of donor funded projects et al. That’s what some Journalists have sourced. And the workers claim of going 3 months without salary has raised quite a brow, with all the taxes Council collects. Occupying public office comes with varied demands and it could be self-destructive to mount an impenetrable posture with a section of the media. This is because in times of crisis, one’s limited and recognizable set of media handlers could not be seen by the public to be plausible in whatever argument they might vainly try to put across. For FCC again we can say without any hesitation that there is a feeling of uneasiness that runs through the various levels of the workforce. And it would be good for the Mayor of the Sun to engage with those disgruntled workers for her to have a settled work place. The protest happened at a time her office is getting bad publicity in the wake of that ill-advised property tax increase initiative.
Rogue Waterloo Bus drivers fleece Passengers
People traveling along the Waterloo – Freetown route go through hell every day because of the actions of very corrupt bus drivers. And these men conduct themselves in a way as if they are a law onto themselves. No questioning, no arrest by the police. The reckless act by the drivers is done during morning and evening rush hour. Seeing the teeming crowd of commuters in the morning in Waterloo they would say their final stop is Ferry Junction. The limited availability of commercial vehicles forces the commuters to board though in reality their normal and authorised point of disembarkation is PZ in the business district of the city.
They are constrained to pay for the Ferry junction journey in desperation and immediately they leave the vehicle, the bus driver or apprentice would call out again that they would be going to PZ. Those who can afford the extra fare would jump onboard with others opting to walk the rest of the way into the city.
In the evening, the same Waterloo drivers pick up passengers from PZ and present Jui junction as their final destination. They again collect fares and the passengers disembark but just about then again, they call out that they would be going to Waterloo. The passengers would then board once more, for what is another fare. So in reality, passengers spend twice or even more daily, than what is the legitimate fare authorized by the Transport Ministry. The traffic division of the police knows that what the bus drivers are doing is illegal. But why can’t the police get these crooks arrested and punished? In this period of COVID-19 and its harsh economic conditions, the people commuting must not be fleeced by such a bunch of rogue bus drivers.
SLFA what is the status of our premier league football?
We will keep asking the obvious question about the status of our top tier football for which clear answers are needed. What will be position of our FA on the status of the game by the time coronavirus is neutralized? People believe they should have heard by now from the Secretariat whether the league will continue or be nullified. The abrupt halt to the Salone Premier League is taking a toll on the players. They face financial difficulties and the return of some to the field again is highly unlikely as travelling to try their luck in even other African countries could be an encouraging prospect, instead of playing in a league bedeviled by intrigue and uncertainty. FA President Madam Isha Johansen ought to be planning right now what to do with the interrupted league. For five years now Salone football has struggled due to bickering amongst football authorities, some of whom should have taken leave long ago, as their presence has only continued to keep the game perpetually stagnated.
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