During a recent mayoral debate in Freetown, Ms Seray Kabba, an Independent Candidate, criticized the previous administration led by Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyer for its failure to address sanitation issues in the city. The debate, organized by Sierra-Eye Magazine and the Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy for Justice (ILRAJ), took place at the Lagoonda Complex on June 3rd, 2023.
Ms Kabba disputed Aki-Sawyer's claim that the garbage situation worsened after she left office, stating that she personally organized clean-up activities in several market areas while the former mayor was still in power. She specifically mentioned Dove Cut Lumley, Bombay, and Peace Market as locations filled with garbage during her cleaning exercises with her team.
Expressing her dissatisfaction, Ms Kabba said, "FCC failed us woefully in terms of sanitation." She criticized the absence of garbage bins on the streets of Freetown and highlighted the efforts of local youths who often mobilized themselves to clean the market areas, sometimes receiving payment from market women for their services.
According to Ms. Kabba, public toilets were severely lacking in most markets, forcing women to resort to using plastic bags. She noted that only Lumley and Magazine Markets had one toilet each, and those facilities were built by the market chairpersons rather than the FCC. If elected mayor, Ms Kabba pledged to engage the community in cleaning their surroundings within the first 90 days of her tenure and ensure the widespread placement of dustbins.
She also emphasized her commitment to enforcing laws against littering in public places and collaborating with partners to address solid waste management issues. Ms Kabba proposed the establishment of a landfill and utilizing garbage for electricity production in the city.
Addressing the issue of street trading, she accused the two major political parties of avoiding action due to fear of losing votes, but she promised to tackle the problem. She proposed a system where sellers would be allocated designated areas for specific items and pledged to construct public toilets and create conducive marketplaces if elected.
Responding to Ms Kabba's criticisms, former Mayor Aki-Sawyer acknowledged the need for a shift in mentality regarding the disposal of garbage on the streets. She emphasized that change takes time and cannot be achieved overnight. Aki-Sawyer explained the high costs associated with solid waste management, including fuel expenses for waste transportation vehicles and salaries for sanitary inspectors.
She revealed that the FCC employed over 589 staff members, resulting in a monthly salary expenditure of 800 million Old Leones before she left office in February of that year. Regarding sanitary enforcement, Aki-Sawyer mentioned the addition of approximately 50 metropolitan police officers but lamented that people continued to dump garbage in the gutters, particularly during the night.