By Ragan M. Conteh
Social distancing measure to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is increasingly being recommended globally to stop the social chain of transmission of the Coronavirus.
In Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, a lawmaker, Hon Alusine Kaindeh Alu Conteh, representing the country’s densely populated slum communities (Kroo Bay, Government Wharf and other slum areas) said the practice of social distancing measure is worrisome in those communities.
The opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party Member of Parliament, representing Constituency 125, Hon Alusine Kaindeh Alu Conteh, also informed that Kroo Bay, Krootown Road, Falcon, St. John and Kingtom are also being threatened by coronavirus.
Hon. Alu Conteh made the revelation in an exclusive interview with this medium while speaking on the level of compliance with the COVID-19 social or physical distancing measures, among others, in his Constituency.
Kroo Bay alone, according to the MP, is believed to host a population of over fourteen thousand inhabitants, with conditions far from being ideal for the growing coronavirus confirmed cases in the country.
According to the lawmaker, other slum communities, including Government Wharf, Kingtom, Wellington Wharf and many others, are having similar number of people sharing almost every social facilities available communally, including water, toilets and bathrooms, to densely populated cubicle sized bedrooms, making the level of adherence to avoidance of physical contact among people something that the MP is worried about.
Making an assessment on the diseases prone community, like Kroo Bay, Hon. Alu Conteh said, “I am also afraid as a Member of Parliament not just for Kroo Bay. We have Falcon Community, Kolleh Town and many more. I am afraid,” he said.
The MP said the people living in these communities are so clustered, “the houses are so close to each other, if you visit some households, you will notice that they have more than ten dependants packed in small accommodations.” “This is fearful,” he stressed.
He however urged his constituents not to cluster while sleeping. He asked them to keep to a safe distance on their crammed beds as well as using face masks and undertake regular hand washing to prevent the virus.
“If I am to give a percentage on compliance on social distancing, I will award 40% to slum communities like Kroo Bay, Kolleh Town, Falcon and Government Wharf communities. If even you tell them to observe social distancing they will forget themselves and interact,” the MP said.
Speaking on his personal contributions, so far to the COVID-19 fight in his Constituency, the APC MP explained that they are currently embarking on sensitizing his constituents on the danger of COVID-19 in the slum communities and the Central Business District (CBD) of Freetown.
He went on to state that he has stationed veronica buckets at every major corner of his constituency.
The MP disclosed that, Choithram has donated 40 big and small veronica buckets, soap, sanitizers and tissues that were distributed among the constituents. He added that the Rokel Commercial Bank also donated ten veronica buckets plus other items. The same for Red Lion and Ballani and Sons, that have also donated five (5) bags of rice to the people of Kroo Bay.
“I did not only stop at soliciting assistance from the corporate institutions in my constituency, because it was not sufficient, there were areas that did not receive the donations. I personally took upon myself to fund the purchase of eighty veronica buckets, tissues, soaps and sanitizers, amounting to twenty million Leones,” he said.
Hon. Conteh revealed that he also rented a Public Address (PA) system and truck to reach out to his constituents with the anti-COVID-19 messages.
On the subject of whether MPs must be sponsored by Government to do more robust Coronavirus engagement in their constituencies, the MP said, on a daily basis, constituents are knocking at his door for help and his Councilors are also demanding and suspicious about him receiving financial support from either Government or elsewhere in championing the fight.
The MP furthered that, “Sierra Leone has so far registered 50 confirmed COVID-19 cases, six recoveries and no death, but its new cases have been spiraling daily,” the MP averred.
Hon. Conteh said, “We really need lockdown but if people are out finding water and food for themselves, then there is a big question about the lockdown. It will not get the kind of results we are wishing to get,” he concluded.