By Francis Kamara
The National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) has demonstrated that when it comes to caring for members of the general public, they are ready to do their utmost to ensure they maintain their promise.
On Tuesday 16th November, 2021 NASSIT made a total donation of five hundred and fifty-five million, seven hundred and twenty thousand Leones (Le555,720,000) to the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) for victims of the Wellington fire disaster in Freetown on 5th Friday, November, 2021.
The cash donations took two forms; a cheque of Le55,720,000 generated by NASSIT staff individual accounts and the Le500M taken from the scheme itself.
The donation came following a visit by a NASSIT delegation led by the dynamic Director General, Mohamed Fuaad Daboh to the Connaught and 34 Military hospitals respectively to express their sympathy and assess the situation for intervention.
Speaking at the donation held at NDMA Headquarters, Aberdeen Road, Freetown, NASSIT Director General, Mohamed Fuaad Daboh disclosed that the scheme often intervened in complementing government’s effort in any national disaster outbreak in the country.
He underscored the importance why NASSIT should intervene which are based on the principles that underpin the scheme.
Receiving the donation, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) Director General, Lt. Col. Brima Sesay thanked NASSIT and informed his audience that initially it was like an ordinary fire but that, it turned out to be an inferno. He informed the NASSIT delegation that he mobilized his team and thirty minutes after the call, they arrived on the scene.
He added that the NDMA response was spot-on despite the controversies surrounding the incident. He maintained that people were enjoying the loot and failed to call the authorities. He said NDMA’s first response was to clear the incident site and after an hour the Vice President came around and stayed until 4am.
He said ninety-nine people were immediately evacuated to the Connaught Hospital and as of today, “we have three hundred and four casualties with one hundred and fifty- eight hospitalized and one hundred and seventy-five dead,” he noted.
He added that the death toll since yesterday Tuesday 16th November, 2021 is one hundred and forty-six. He went on to say that twenty-eight patients are admitted at Connaught Hospital, six at Choithram Hospital, ten at 34 Military Hospital and four at Rokupa Hospital.
According to him, twenty-two vehicles were burnt down in addition to forty-eight motorbikes, three tricycles and two residences. He added that since the incidence, they have received several donations from WHO, UAE, and currently they have eleven Senegalese and ten Liberian medical personnel assisting their Sierra Leonean counterparts.
He concluded by saying that a task force is currently being set up by the President to investigate the cause of the accident with a view to ensuring that such never happens again. He used the opportunity to extend thanks once again to the NASSIT delegation and called on other entities to emulate the example of NASSIT.
