URGENT ROAD MAINTENANCE NEEDED AT UP GUN
We have to once again call the attention of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority to the appalling condition of that small section of the road linking the Up Gun area to Bai Bureh road. All the culverts at that very important junction have collapsed and drivers now have to slow down to a crawl so as not to splash dirty water on pedestrians or more seriously damage their vehicles in that ditch now created at an important junction like that.
The other day we brought up the same issue at Dundas Street – Sanders Street junction and we realized that indeed action was taken and the broken culvert restored. Now we look forward to SLRA or their contractor doing the same at Up Gun. The state of the junction is a real shame because the damage was caused over a long period which is why we fail to understand why the SLRA did not act in time to save the whole structure from falling apart.
SLRA should consider the volume of traffic on that road on a daily basis and do something urgently to prevent damage to vehicles or serious injuries to pedestrians. This idea that road works come to a halt during the rains in this country is not correct. The other day we saw a local contractor trying to patch up the Model Junction area of Circular road with cement and stones. We will visit the area again to see what that contractor achieved because the whole thing looked like a joke.
AND OVER TO THE LIMKOKWING – REGENT CONSTRUCTION AREA
This stretch of road started very well with much acclaim but we have reached a point where the workers have withdrawn and what little had been done is now in some ruin. What is really happening? There are now very dangerous potholes on both sides of the road making travelling on that stretch a real nightmare. And the contractors somehow don’t think they should let us what they are up to now. These contractors must treat the good people of Sierra Leone with respect if not because we are paying their fees, but because we have human rights at least.
If, as we suspect, construction has stopped because of the rains, why can’t somebody tell us that? Why can’t the contractors continue doing remedial work during this period to temporarily deal with all those potholes?
Look at the situation at that crucial junction, turning off the main road into the road leading to the US embassy and Leicester. Water has steadily cut the mound of rubbish left there by the contractors creating a huge gap into which vehicles and motorbikes fall daily. Maybe they should permanently station somebody there to be shouting MIND THE GAP. This is certainly not the way to go about this job. The people are suffering too much on this road. We need some explanation and action.
WILL THE HANDS FINALLY GO OFF OUR GIRLS?
We don’t yet know to which extent the new sexual abuse crimes court will succeed where advocacy and threats appear to be failing in the fighting against rape and other forms of sexual abuse of woman and girls. Queen Fatima has travelled throughout the country shouting HANDS OFF OUR GIRLS but we keeping hearing horrible stories daily.
When we come to write the history of our country, covering this period, Principal and his wife Queen Fatima will be commended for leaving no stone unturned to take on and defeat the menace that is about to blight the good reputation of Sierra Leone.
Principal has done a lot since coming to power to fight rape in particular. He has declared a State of Emergency on that, committed a lot of money to the fight, spoken out frequently about the issue and Queen Fatima has launched one initiative after the other all aimed at tackling this very serious problem but it would appear as if things are not improving in a noticeable way at all. Now having a court specifically set up to try such cases is the latest move by Principal to turn the tide against a group of men operating in small dark corners, raping our women and girls and sometimes subjecting them to other forms of abuse.
While we applaud this move – and we are quite sure millions of Sierra Leoneans are also happy about the setting up of this court, we would like to say a word or two on what we hope to see in this particular court.
1. We don’t want to see the kind of delays we witness in the existing courts. We hate too many adjournments to accommodate very busy lawyers who take such cases. We should also not pamper state prosecutors who repeatedly come to court to tell magistrates and judges that they were busy looking for their witnesses. Is that the way to conduct things on our behalf?
2. The forensic examination report on alleged victims that is normally used in court should be above board. So let’ do a proper FORENSIC LAB right now to complement what the judiciary has just done. Manty says we should have the lab soon. How soon ma?
3. Let’s also train the FSU people who normally investigate these cases and pay them reasonably well. The training MUST include dealing with the media. Such cases have massive public interest so they should never be surprised when journalists turn up to ask questions regarding such cases.
BOOM BOX NOISY DRUGS SALES, WHAT A NUISANCE?
These days we see young men all over Freetown in particular selling medicines that they claim can cure all kinds of diseases one can think of. They traverse every street and corner with huge speakers booming out too good to be true messages about the potency and efficacy of their drugs. It is quite shocking when you listen to the mostly misleading messages coming from their sound boxes about the curative power of their medicines and the illnesses they target. The speakers are often in full blast and quite a nuisance they are. People are importing all kinds of medicines into the country and giving them out to barely literate or even illiterate peddlers.
How many unsuspecting people, desperate for a cure are not instead purchasing substances that have gone on to affect their organs or brought on other ailments? We will never know the number of people that are dying from this unregulated selling of medicines.
Some of their messages about serious diseases are not just misleading but shockingly comical in nature. We are quite perplexed that this madness could be allowed to continue when we have the Pharmacy Board and the Medical and Dental Association, two bodies that are often quite ethically sensitive to matters about medicines. We suggest that some tough regulatory measures be put in place to curb this unhealthy merchandising of presumed health products.
SMASH THE CRIMINAL GANG ALONG CAMPBELL STREET NOW
We as asking IG Sovula to call for case records from Adelaide Street Police Station or what they call Western Police station going back three years and he will be surprised at the number of complaints recorded in that place about criminal activities along Campbell Street – from St. John to Pademba road. IG Sovula will also discover that most of the reports are about the criminals breaking into cars and stealing bags, mobile phones, laptop computers, and car batteries. This is very serious and the police at Adelaide Street are aware of this menace.
Recently, a lady parked her car along Campbell Street towards Pademba road for a brief meeting with a bereaved friend. She retuned less than half an hour later and to her surprise, her car battery was gone. While standing there distressed a good citizen who actually saw the thief at work gave information leading to the arrest of the thief who was already consuming alcohol inside the PWD compound.
A small crowd led the thief to his base at the junction of John Lane and Campbell Street and picked the battery up from among many other stolen properties in that dark little room. All of this happened in broad daylight. If an ordinary citizen can, by mere observation track a thief like that, what is happening with the police after all those many reports? They just compile and keep. That’s not good enough.
We checked yesterday and to our surprise, no raid has been conducted in that criminal base or surrounding area to clear the criminals who are causing so much distress along one of the main roads in this city. The particular thief was given a good beating but even an OSD officer who was around simply walked away. Come on IG Sovula!
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