Abdulai Mansaray: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 28 July 2025:
Sierra Leone established the Environment Protection Act (EPA) in 2008, meant to safeguard the environment and manage natural resources. Its remit includes preventing pollution and establishing a legacy for future generations. The EPA’s functions encompass National Environmental Enforcement, Licencing, Waste Management, Chemicals, Climate Sciences, Monitoring, Assessment, Research, Development, and Radiological protection.
In Sierra Leone, environmental issues, though partly natural, are significantly linked to human activities: deforestation, overfishing, water pollution, improper waste management, and soil degradation. The annual rainy or monsoon season brings deluges, mudslides, flooding, mass erosion, and landscape changes, now a tragic annual ritual, especially in Freetown. Everything the EPA is supposed to protect is at risk.
The number of buildings collapsing in Freetown this year is alarming. While nature plays a role, it’s clear human actions exacerbate these disasters. Officials in high-visibility jackets routinely inspect sites after tragedies occur, akin to closing barn doors after horses have bolted. Are these tragedies thoroughly investigated? Are findings published? Are lessons learned to inform policy? If so, why do we see repeat performances year after year? Are we complacent, burying our dead with a fatalistic “how for do?” attitude?
Recent rains left casualties and tragedies. One life lost is always one too many. While the seasonal deluge is largely natural, should Sierra Leoneans accept being shareholders in this annual devastation afflicting Freetown? Climate change is real. Sierra Leone cannot change global perceptions, but can we reduce our annual rainy season risks?
When Portuguese explorer Pedro de Cintra visited in 1462, he reportedly named the land “Serra Lyoa” (Lion Mountains) inspired by thunderclaps, lightning, and a landscape resembling a crouching lion. If he or his descendants returned today, a monumental leap of faith would be needed to recognize it as the same place. Natural changes since 1462 are expected, but human actions have bastardized the greenery that once provided cover and insurance against nature’s fury. The lush tropical backdrop is gone, leaving scars like the 2017 mudslide.
Building collapses in Freetown suggest regulatory failure. With rapid urbanization, whose responsibility is building monitoring? High housing demand, accelerated by past migration, has led to practices like multiple claims on single plots, often with “genuine” Lands Ministry documentation. Land grabs, targeting the diaspora, make the Ministry synonymous with this issue – a practice dating back to colonial land purchases and persisting through successive governments.
Despite annual catastrophes, desperation drives people to repeat mistakes in Freetown’s ever-shrinking space. The perceived complicity of Lands officials and the EPA’s dormancy make some dwellings seem suicidal. A cluster of precariously perched houses in central Freetown, threatened by erosion and possibly man-made factors, is a national focus point, yet reportedly still occupied.
Who is responsible for safeguarding our environment and people? While disasters are often natural, our rainfall should be a blessing. We are spared Sahel-like droughts, but cannot absolve ourselves from contributing causes. Over years, under officials’ watch, we have stripped our hills bare tree by tree, replacing greenery with precarious brick and galvanized roofing settlements – resembling bird nests from afar.
Where is the EPA? Is it preposterous to expect it to ensure safe waste disposal, especially in Freetown? The Freetown City Council, under Mayor Yvonne Sawyerr, and initiatives like Klin Salone strive to manage waste, but Freetown produces more than it can dispose of. Disease outbreaks and endemic malaria, cholera, and typhoid attest to poor sanitation. Privately collected household waste often ends up clogging gutters like Samba Gutter, causing flooding within hours of rain.
Human activity significantly contributes to these tragedies. Yet, we have authorized bodies, empowered by Acts of Parliament like the EPA, meant to safeguard communities. The fatalistic “How for Do?” attitude is no longer acceptable. Battling climate change is difficult, but we can do much as a country and people to ameliorate disasters. A recent video showed a dwelling engulfed by a burst Guma Valley pipe, prompting sympathy but also questions.
The climate is changing. Why not us? We need human change, not climate change. Climate change is our era’s greatest threat; Sierra Leone is never too small to make a difference. Like death, it is inevitable, but we struggle to accept it. We don’t have the luxury of disbelief. It’s not too late to stop becoming weapons of mass destruction. Let us act, if for nothing else, for our children’s children.