Robbers continue to terrorize at night
We have been saying this for a very long time now; robbers are becoming very daring day by day and it seems the police are not up to the task. We say this because under this COVID-19 Curfew, we are getting countless reports of attacks by men armed with dangerous weapons at night. The embattled and fear stricken people call for Police help but hardly do they show up. Even when they do, by that time, the robbers would have disappeared into the night. That’s why the Police sometimes come under suspicion because of the manner of their response. A few days ago, residents of Lungi cowered in their homes as machete-wielding robbers put them under siege.
We thought the curfew brought about by the pandemic could have seen less criminal activity at night but it is the contrary. The Police are not patrolling at night at all, which has given the criminals a free range to do whatever they want. They cannot tell us they lack personnel. There are so many recruits who can be seen strolling around during the day. Why not draft them alongside experienced personnel and have them patrol the streets of our major towns and cities at night? Taxpayers are not getting the desired protection from these our officers.
It was also quite shocking to hear that two robbers caught by the Police couple of days ago were among the group of prisoners that recently benefitted from the Presidential pardon! This has given us a bit of concern as to the criteria the senior cadre at the Correctional Service uses to recommend that inmates benefit from that traditional release by the president. Well we would recommend that the Anti-Corruption Commission closely follow how the officers slot in the names of some of these prisoners into the list that the president eventually endorses. Maybe some kind of business is involved in the whole process. Those prisoners released and interviewed on radio had promised not to fall foul of the law again and it is quite worrisome to know some are being taken in again, just weeks after they gained their freedom!
The gutters are overflowing again. Bring back the monthly Saturday cleaning.
We are missing the national cleaning day that Principal introduced upon assuming office. The coronavirus pandemic forced Principal’s administration to suspend the exercise. Many people had embraced the process with them coming out in their numbers on the first Saturday of each month to clean their compounds and frontages. The security forces especially the Military, did a great job throughout, and together with the police and other groups, painstakingly removed garbage in gutters and culverts that had been there for ages. Before this, Freetown residents had come to dread the rainy season because of the flooding and destruction brought about by overflowing drainages.
And that’s been true for particularly people living in slum settlements and other areas prone to disasters. But the Saturday cleaning somehow reduced the potential risks and some of us have come to realize the relevance of such an exercise that also reduced the spread of malaria and other diseases. However, since the cleaning got suspended, we have seen the return of the unfavorable sights of flooded Freetown streets once again.
A life was even lost nearly two weeks ago, and homes swept away in incidents of flooding in various parts of Freetown. The famous Samba gutter in central Freetown overflowed and pedestrians trying to pass through Sanders street struggled and waddled through dirty overflowing rainwater. It was then some people could be heard acknowledging their appreciation of the cleaning Saturday. What has worsened matters is the keeping of piles and piles of garbage by some stubborn and reckless individuals who then dump them into the gutters, thereby contributing to the blocking of running water. They do this just to avoid paying a little fee to young men with pushcarts or tricycles that move around collecting garbage from homes. We hope this COVID-19 will end, so the cleaning Saturday can resume.
Beware of those fraudsters calling your phone!
Some people are just interested in pulling a fast one to make money, yes money that they do not in any way deserve. We are talking here about fraudsters who are now using the cell phone to get people part away with their money. They have devised various tricks to do this and they will tell stories that are just too good to be true. If one is naïve enough or just too easy to believe, then expect to be duped. The most common trick these days is for someone to call you saying there is a job vacancy at a particular office for you; they often name a UN Agency. They then tell you to go to the office and ask for a given name but just as you might be on your way to the place, you will get another call, this time telling you to send a stated amount of money through Orange Money Transfer to the individual facilitating your employment. Some people have fallen for the bait, transferred free money for the criminals only to go the office and be told they have no one there employing people that way. The money will never be recovered for they would have had it withdrawn in the twinkle of an eye! Folks who are smart enough to figure out the scam, will back off. This is the world we live in today; people are heartlessly duping others even at this time of dire economic challenges fuelled by the COVID-19pandemic! We can only advise you not to drop your guard, or you would become a soft target for these fraudsters to prey on. Be warned!
Reckless driving on our roads claiming lives
The Church in Sierra Leone and the general public were in utter shock when news of the death of Bishop John Yambasu circulated almost two weeks ago. He did not die of natural causes but by road crash along the Calaba Town -Waterloo highway. The head of the United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone was travelling on that road when one irresponsible driver slammed into his vehicle, killing him instantly. There are many people out there behind the wheel who can’t even control a wheelbarrow in a vast field, yet they are going around pretending to be drivers. How they got the licence to drive is the million dollar question. People over the years have secured licenses under very dubious circumstances and have therefor performed poorly on our roads. Many people have died in road crashes that could never have happened, had the drivers been truly tried and tested. Some are pure drug addicts and yet they drive us in those commercial vehicles, with our lives purely in their hands. Another fellow driving a Serena mini –bus last year was repeatedly warned against over speeding by passengers but he ignored them, only for him to plunge the vehicle and the passengers to their death below the Tiaima Bridge. A girl, who had left her Grafton Police barracks home that afternoon, to register for entry into Njala University, was among the dead. Her dream brutally ended by that wacky of a driver! Our traffic police hardly stop and arrest drivers for dangerous driving or over speeding. The much- talked about Breathalyzer is nowhere to be seen and gangsters posing as drivers continue to kill people. Even the sentences handed down on drivers found guilty of causing fatal accidents have just about emboldened them to do as they like. Long jail term and seizure of licence or a ban from ever driving again, can be a more effective way of stopping the madness of some of these guys driving especially commercial vehicles. The Bishop was said to be a very kind man. May his soul rest in perfect peace.
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