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Her Worship, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Mayor of Freetown, has expressed concern about the city’s growing population and the challenges it poses to urban planning, particularly regarding land use and building permits.
During an exclusive interview, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr said that Freetown has seen a substantial influx of people in recent years, resulting in overcrowding and unplanned construction. She observed that once accessible and open spaces, have become densely occupied, making moving around cities and service delivery more difficult.
“The increase in population is tangible. There’s no where in the city now that you can walk without being in a crowd. And that wasn’t the case before.” She said.
She also explained the necessity for coordinated urban planning. She did, however, point out that the Ministry of Lands has the power to issue building permits, not the Freetown City Council or any of the 21 local authorities.
“The obstacle we have in the improvement of land use planning and building permits is the lack of mandate devolved to the local council,” she said.
This limitation, she claims, impedes efforts to regulate building and ensure access to basic utilities like sanitation and water.
Mayor Aki-Sawyerr is hopeful that the World Bank-funded Resilient Urban Sierra Leone Project would assist solve these issues by promoting better urban restructuring and planning in the country.
She explained the importance of implementing such building permit system in the country, to avoid additional unregulated construction, which frequently results in crowded regions without adequate infrastructure.
