The Mayor of Freetown, Her Worship Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE has launched the Sustainable, eco-friendly access to safe water for hard-to-reach, vulnerable households (SAFE Project) in the Tree Planting Community in Freetown which was chaired by Councillor Memmu Sawyerr of ward 429.

The SAFE project is implemented by Concern Worldwide in collaboration with Freetown City Council, Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The project targets the Tree Planting community as a hard-to-reach and vulnerable area due to its extremely hilly location and poor road access. The community is said to have limited access to improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, putting them at high risk of outbreaks of water-borne diseases. It will also cater for farmers in helping them have water for their crops and organic manure from waste.

Project supervisor, Mohamed Alim Conteh stated that over 30 households in the area engaged in small-scale urban farming as their main source of livelihoods and they have no reliable access to water for their crops especially in the dry season. He added that farmers relied predominantly on using chemical fertilizers that pose environmental risks including contamination of underground water sources.

The Emergency Programme Coordinator of Concern Worldwide, Mr. Jusufu Conteh narrated how they got the grant from the States of Guernsey Overseas Aid & Development Commission. He stated that, when they were facing challenges for the grant, they went to Freetown City Council and requested a recommendation from the mayor, which she did and sent to the donors. He added that, after the mayor has sent the recommendation, they sent the concept note and they immediately secured the grant.

He continued saying that the project will provide one borehole for safe drinking water and it will have two storage tanks. Adding that, the other borehole will also have two storage tanks that will be used for drinking water and agriculture purposes in the community.

Mr. Jusufu Conteh furthered that, the last component of the project is waste management. He said due to the location of the community, it is difficult for tricycles and trucks to go there and collect their wastes. Adding that, they will operationalize the waste sorting platform that was constructed under a DfID/FCDO funded Solid Waste Management project in 2020/2021. He assured the stakeholders of providing one tricycle to the waste management committee that will be transporting the waste.

He talked about their relationship with the Ministry of Water Resources. “When we look at the operations for water in the country, we realized that Concern Worldwide has a long-standing collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources. That is why when we got the grant, we have been in contact with the Ministry of Water Resources because by law, they are the one that should provide technical guidance for any water project we want to implement in the country. The moment we met them, they accepted the project”. He acknowledged the presence of Ing. James Bio from the Ministry of Water Resources.

He concluded that they will also partner with the Ministry of Agriculture and they have been in direct contact with the Director of Crops, Mr. John Solomon Kamara to make the project a success.

Systems Director of Concern Worldwide, Mr. Alieu Sannoh said that they got the support from Freetown City Council to get the funding. He revealed that, they received one hundred and fifty thousand pounds to implement the project in 3 years and he assured the community stakeholders of using the money for the activities outlined by Mr. Jusufu Conteh.

He called on the community stakeholders to take ownership and responsibility of the project for its sustainability. He added that, as an organization, they are concerned about seeing children going to school late because of the challenges of fetching water. He emphasized to the community to take ownership of the project during and after its implementation. He assured of providing more projects for the Tree Planting Community.

Project Director of the Ministry of Water Resources, Ing. James Bio stated that their ministry is available to create a conducive working environment so that NGOs like Concern Worldwide can implement their projects easily. He called on community stakeholders to fully support the project during its implementation by monitoring and providing workers.

He explained the importance of the project. He said the safe drinking water that Concern Worldwide is providing is very important. Adding that, some school going pupils spend more in the stream to fetch water and at the end of the day, they are not able to go to school on time. “We are really happy for this project that Concern is bringing to us.” He expressed.

He pleaded for the strengthening of Agriculture in the country. “Besides water, we want them to improve agriculture in this country. Agriculture is the next flagship. Concern is providing water so that people will be able to plant their crops that we are using for feeding and serves as an employment opportunity for farmers and traders”.

Ing. James Bio thanked Freetown City Council, especially the mayor for bringing the project into existence. “She did a very good job”. He concluded by encouraging community stakeholders to participate in the project and make it sustainable.

Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr acknowledged the presence of Ing. James Bio from the Ministry of Water Resources, Mr. Alieu Sannoh from Concern Worldwide and others.

The mayor stated the reason for the gathering. “What we gathered here for today is what we called continuation because in 2020, we started by identifying 100 women that we gave support for urban farming”. She added that they gave them the seeds and tools but water was a challenge. Compared to other areas, she said Kamayama and Bottom Oku, where they are also implementing similar projects, have water even during dry the season while there is no water in the Tree Planting Community. She continued that, since they are there now, they will make sure that they provide water for the community.

She talked about waste management. She said they built the waste sorting platform with Concern Worldwide in Tree Planting Community, Mayenkineh, Moyeba and other areas for the sorting of wastes to recycling materials and organic manure. She recalled that, in 2016 when she went to the Tree Planting Community for “Operation Clean Freetown”, they discussed tricycles but the community was facing challenges in terms of road access.

For the boreholes, she assured the community that the struggle they have been facing to fetch water is coming to an end as the project will provide sufficient and safe drinking water for the community. Adding that, uncontaminated water and waste management will provide a safe and conducive environment for the people.

She thanked Mr. Jusufu Conteh and Conern Worldwide for the continuous collaboration and finally launched the SAFE project under the Transform Freetown agenda.