The Mayor of Freetown Yvonne Aki Sawyerr, in her response to the Disaster Caused by Heavy rainfall flooding and mudslide on Sunday 28 August has stated that planting more trees, effective land use planning, and an environmentally sensitive building permit regime that is implemented will save lives.

Heavy rainfall that leads to hazards, such as flooding, including risk to human life, damage to buildings and infrastructure, and loss of crops and livestock. landslide, disruption of transportation, and communications were among the incidents that occurred on Sunday 28 August 2022. Amidst these actual and potential threats and their attendant consequences, The Mayor of Freetown after visiting the affected areas reacted to the disaster that has left six people dead.

“My heart goes out to the families of the six people who died in the mudslide at Looking Town today. The deceased (a husband, wife and their baby, another child, and two men) lived in two adjacent homes perched on a steep slope in the hills above Kissy. Like many other informal settlements, there is no road to the community, it is accessed via a 115minutewalkk along a narrow footpath. As I spoke with survivors and neighbors, I could see a huge boulder positioned precariously above the community. A poignant reminder of the risk of disaster this community lives with daily”.

“In Culvert community, the river had overflowed its bank. We had visited this community last week after Sunday’s heavy rains and plans were underway to dredge the river; the rains came again before that work could start”.

“But dredging the river will not be sufficient. We went further downstream from Culvert to Kanikay where we saw how the mouth of the river is being closed through “banking”. The banking is so extensive that the once vast water expanse between Kissy Dockyard and Kanikay is closing. The flooding of coastal communities will worsen as natural waterways and protective mangroves are destroyed through banking. The same phenomenon is being experienced in the west of Freetown where Aberdeen Creek is being banked to the extent that Lumley Beach Road is now almost connected to Cockle Bay”.

“Climate change is real and extreme weather events are set to continue. We must prepare for these and protect our communities from the risks of mudslides, landslides, and floods. We must stop the deforestation of our hillsides and the destruction of our mangroves (largely driven by housing construction), we must stop the construction of structures in waterways, and we must stop dumping waste in gutters and waterways”.

“Contrary to views I’ve often heard expressed about Freetown, it is not too late to introduce land use planning and an environmentally sensitive building permit regime. I continue to advocate for these functions to be devolved to the 22 Local Council in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 2004 so that they can be implemented”.

“There were disasters of varying degrees of severity in many communities across the city today and I would like to thank NDMA, FCC Councillors and the FCC Disaster Risk Management Unit, Community Disaster Management Committees (CDMCs), Caritas, CRS, IRFC, and all others who worked throughout today to assist the affected communities. Sadly it is predicted that there will be more extreme weather events as unfortunately global warming is still set to continue. Let us do all that we can to be prepared for this so that we save lives and properties. In addition to planting more trees, effective land use planning and an environmentally sensitive building permit regime that is implemented will save lives”.