Sierra Leone: Cholera Looms Over Old Wharf Community

Dozens of Old Wharf residents in Wellington, east of Freetown, have called on the government to come to their aid as their community is in a deplorable condition and prone to being infected by the deadly cholera disease.

Community headman, Abdul Karim Bangura, said they are faced with many problems including poor toilet facilities and unsafe drinking water among others. He said that their community has been abandoned by the government and they have not enjoyed any good as part of the country.

“The government has forgotten about our community and we are not considered for any sort of developmental programme,” he said.

Another resident of the community, Pa Saidu Mansaray, noted that they had to use the extreme end of the stream as their toilet because they do not have proper toilet facilities and their lives are exposed to risks of diseases like cholera, malaria and other water borne ailments.

“There are remains of water taps around the community that are not working,” Pa Saidu said. “We don’t have good water to drink. We drink well and stream water.”

Sallay Kanu said their children have to cover long distances to attend school because there is no community school for them and pleaded with the government to develop their community to ease their suffering.

To combat the rise of cholera and other diseases in the country and the Old Wharf community, the community headman suggested that the Ministry of Health and Sanitation should visit disease-prone communities to study people’s conditions of living.