By Francis Kamara
On Monday 28th February, 2022, Her Worship the Mayor, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr and her team of Councilors at the Freetown City Council launched the Transform Freetown Third Year Report, which entails the works of the council from January 2021 – January 2022.
Taking the press through the report, Her Worship the Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, acknowledged that she is pleased to share the Third Year Report to the public. The annual report is for people in the Freetown Municipality to know the activities of the Council. This includes what they have achieved as a council over the years, what they are about to do, and the challenges and obstacles along the way.
The Transform Freetown initiative which started on 24th January, 2019, aims to address Freetown’s socio-economic challenges and environmental vulnerabilities. She said their aspiration is for Freetown to emerge as a dynamic city of opportunity with the potential of becoming city with a difference, adding that, Freetown has for years faced many significant challenges, ranging from rapid population growth and the absence of development. She noted that Transform Freetown project is about delivering and improving on the cultural richness, historical landmarks and unleash the enormous potential of Freetown.
She went on to say that the work of Transform Freetown has not only touched the lives of residents, but also each and every stakeholder. This year’s report is also part of a plan to address some of the most pressing concerns affecting the city, she said.
Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr went on to say that the Council has played a great role especially in the disaster response area. She said approximately forty disasters happened last year, of which 38 were fire accidents and the others were natural disasters. She affirmed that sometimes what you do is not what you plan to do, but that as a Council they just have to respond to the call of Sierra Leoneans.
Furthermore, she highlighted that as a council, they have delivered 45 projects across the Transform Freetown priority sectors in 2021; one of which is the Environmental Management – planting of 1m trees launched in January 2020, as part of the Transform Freetown campaign
She added that the most important tool for every successful mayor is urban planning. She noted that for a city with over 1 million people, Freetown is lacking effective tools which have proven to be a major challenge because there is no building control or regulations that will help in urban planning. She encouraged all Freetownians to pay their property rate, as 20% of that money will be used to develop communities of Sierra Leoneans.
Limited funding and limited staff are also major challenges facing the Council in the Transform Freetown campaign as there is not enough funds to execute all the planned projects which has made some to stall.
In terms of international relations, she acknowledged that in 2021, they elevated Freetown’s international profile to empower its connections with other cities around the world, and engaged the Freetown City Council in policy-making at the international, regional, and national levels. She reiterated that the journey to neighboring Liberia where they joined in the celebration of the Annual Monrovia Day on February 16th, where she was the keynote speaker served as a platform for strengthening the relationship between Freetown and Monrovia and for finding practical ways to overcome the similar challenges both cities face.
The Freetown City Council under the able leadership of Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, expanded the daily street sweeping to improve sanitation and cleanliness city-wide. “110 major streets are now being swept daily by 135 tricycle groups, an increase from 68 major streets in the previous years,” she said adding that waste collection is done by the FCC fleet team and continues in all 48 recognized markets.
Since January 2021, the council’s Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Team has responded to several disasters throughout the city, affecting more than 1900 households, and over 8,900 people. The FCC DRM Team was often the lead response coordinate with government agencies, and local and international NGOs to deliver supplies such as food, shelter, water and non-food items to the affected population.
She added that the Council is also on the verge to complete a three storeys market at Wilberforce village, and have also established the school leadership support program. They made significant strides to keep early learning centers operational, providing quality education for its pre-school pupils, continuing the education of children of women at Congo Water Market.
“As we are approaching the 230 years anniversary of Freetown, human development has taken a giant toll,” the Mayor said, adding that they have had talks with foreign investors for a cable-car project which is now at an advanced state. She urged the media to propagate the message of the FCC and raise the awareness profile for residents to comply with payment of rates.
