POURING USED OIL ON THE MAIN HIGHWAY OUT OF FREETOWN?
For some time now we’ve been hearing about oil being poured on certain sections of the main highway out of Freetown with the aim of causing accidents and potentially killing innocent people. At first we thought the reports were just one of those fanciful things that are dumped on social media to scare people or just for the sake of some mischief maker doing something. Last week the reports surfaced again with people complaining that as a consequence of people deliberately pouring oil on the road, vehicles were involved in accidents and there were injuries.
We called the attention of the Roads Safety Authority when the first reports emerged. They may have acted but it’s clear now that whatever they did was totally inadequate because it has happened again. We wish those involved in the latest incident all the best as they receive treatment for various injuries.
It is difficult to understand why somebody or a group of people would take all the time in the world to gather oil to a significant quantity, possibly from garages near the affected section and pour it on the road in the dead of night. Surely that’s the only time such a criminal activity is possible without those responsible being caught.
If the attention of the police was never called to such a situation, we are doing it now. It is our view that the oil is collected from some of the roadside garages along that highway and poured on the streets so that when accidents occur at night, the criminals would move in and do their normal thing. We can find no other reasons to explain why anybody would behave in this way. People have given us political reasons but the fact that the road is not restricted to one set of politicians renders that argument defective. We must act now!
SOUTHERN ARENA AND THOSE SPRAYING URINE AROUND THE STADIUM
Like many other people, we have seen social media pictures of some young MEN splashing urine on the walls of the newly-constructed Southern Arena in Bo. CCTV captured about THREE guys in the act after last weekend’s encounter between the champions of Sierra Leone, Bo Rangers and their Algerian counterparts. From those pictures, it is possible to find those guys and at least shame them for being nuisances in a prohibited area.
Bo Rangers are getting ready to depart for Algeria for the second leg in the CAF competition to try to overturn that 3 – 1 deficit. The players and technical staff know that the mountain in front of them is higher than Kilimanjaro but we are talking football and things can just happen on a bad day. Anyway, while thinking about that, they have this small matter of people beginning to spray urine around that great new facility which could become a habit and spread if strong action is not taken right now.
What happened at Southern Arena reminds us of the way fans in Freetown behave at the Siaka Steven Stadium. They do even unbelievable things in that facility. In fact all the outrage we are seeing on social media is because the Southern Arena is owned by a private individual and there are functioning wash facilities there so that only those mad guys can explain why it was so impossible for them to use the toilets.
The Siaka Steven Stadium is under renovation. Before it was closed down everything was possible in and around the place, including homeless people taking up residence in the rooms inside the main bowl. We hope and pray that those caught on CCTV messing up Southern Arena would be taught a lesson in how to behave in public.
Please also deploy your stewards backed up by the police to promptly arrest the next batch of people who easily lose all sense of decency even in a public space.
CONCERN IN EUROPE AS TEMPLE RUNNING INTENSIFIES
There is panic in Europe once again because they believe that illegal migrants – those we call Temple Runners from Africa and other parts of the world are about to overrun that continent. Anyway, that’s an exaggeration on our part but there is this fear that too many people are turning up in boats in southern European countries, especially Italy and Greece and that unless there was some coordinated European action to stop that movement, those countries would soon not be able to carry the burden alone. That would then open up the possibility of those countries opening up the gates to other parts of Europe. In fact, many of those migrants don’t want to stay in Italy or Greece; they would like to move to the more prosperous northern parts of the continent.
The EU is busy discussing various strategies including swift deportation of those whose asylum applications fail and deploying a naval task force to stop the boats from entering European waters. These are very expensive ventures to undertake but they are rich countries. Let's see how that goes.
Last week alone almost TEN thousand migrants turned up in Italy. We don’t know how many died at sea. There was this man who identified himself as a Sierra Leone telling Sky News that he spent a fortune to make that trip. We wonder what would happen to that guy if he ended up being deported.
We know conditions are not the best in Africa but risking lives in this Temple Run thing is something we really can’t explain. The best strategy would be to stop the boats moving in the first place rather than trying to stop them on the high seas. The strategy also requires the Europeans to come over to Africa and have a conversation with our leaders. They may have done that in the past but we are now in an emergency and extraordinary measures are needed.
1. Help create opportunities in Africa so those young people have something to look up to at home. You can’t continue plundering the continent’s resources in a rigged international system and not expect some of our brothers and sisters to go where they think the good life is.
2. Make legal pathways to enter and work in Europe accessible and fair. Most of those on that Temple Run simply want to make money and return home to Africa. They don’t want to stay in Europe forever.
3. Don’t throw bundles of money on some of our leaders as a means of persuading them to stop the boats leaving for Europe because they will use that to blackmail Europe to constantly part with cash. As soon as the money finishes, they will reopen the gates.
4. Please come over to Africa and tell the truth about life in your countries. TV pictures portraying Europe as heaven on earth is helping create this myth about streets paved with gold. Please also remember to tell our relatives who are legal residents in Europe to stop telling lies about their circumstances out there. All those lies are helping fuel illegal migration.
MARKET STALLS TAKING OVER BETWEEN LIMKOKWING AND REGENT
Our readers would naturally expect us to show pictures of what we are talking about here. We will do that in subsequent editions because those involved in building the illegal stalls were hostile to our reporters as they went about their lawful duties. We are however bringing this issue up now because it’s urgent and we don’t want to end up with another Abacha Street in that part of town.
We have to insist on having areas in this city where there is no STREET TRADING and all the troubles associated with it. This idea that in the ceaseless search for money, street trading in particular can take place anywhere is wrong and unacceptable.
We call on the Waterloo Rural Council to cooperate with the police to clear that whole stretch. A lot of work has been done at Wilberforce roundabout. Why is the Limkokwing – Regent road different? The traders have occupied the pedestrian walkway and their numbers are multiplying. We will be back with this issue.
Copyright (2023) Politico (20/09/23)
