By Alfred Koroma
Mohamed Gento Kamara, one of the Mayoral candidates for the Freetown City Council has during the weekend launched a campaign manifesto, promising to fix the city’s numerous problems.
Freetown, the capital and main business center of Sierra Leone has a long standing water, sanitation and solid waste management conundrum. The water crisis in the city comes in twofold: in the rainy season, the crag city suffers from flooding whiles in the dries; residents of the city suffer inadequate access to domestic water.
The Mayoral candidate for the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) has promised to fix those problems while launching his manifesto on Saturday.
If successful his mayoral bid, Gento said he intends to focus on providing access to clean water, sanitation services, and employment opportunities and creates public spaces within the city.
“I know the practical ways to fix water problem in Freetown,” he stated. “I am committed to fixing this city so that it works for all of us.”
He said he will solve the city’s lack of access to clean water by harnessing and protecting water catchments; installing sub mains water pipes in areas that already have direct access to pipe born water, building water filtration systems and incentivizing rainwater harvesting.
He intends to keep the city clean by relocating its dumpsites, promoting recycling of waste and progressively eliminating the use of plastics. He has also assured healthy public spaces and services for all by increasing market and business spaces, and setting aside spaces for play and recreation.
This will go along with job creation by incentivizing industries and private businesses to set up in the city and provides micro-credit to MSMEs and entrepreneurs in the formal economy. The business tycoon presently employs over 800 staff and has said he is working on a project that will employ more.
Gento Kamara, a successful entrepreneur in the construction industry is running for the top job in the Freetown City Council under the ruling SLPP. He is racing to unseat the main opposition candidate and former Mayor, Yuvonne Akie-Sawyer, who is also seeking a reelection.
