Related material available on www.natinpasadvantage.com

WHAT A MISERABLE CHRISTMAS IN FREETOWN WEST!

First they destroyed Lumley Beach, then they bulldozed Wilkinson Rd. Where next? This government is no respecter of private property!

Lumley beach has in recent times had a chequered past. I remember a pristine environment when I used to spend time there as a small boy in the sixties. The water was clean and clear, the sand pure and unblemished. The beach was more or less untouched by human ‘development’. Today, on bad days, when the tides are unfavourable, beachgoers are liable to be assaulted by a huge canopy of garbage, stretching up and down the beach and out to sea as far as the eye can see. The assorted filth, including untreated human waste, that the government blithely allows to clog the gutters in central Freetown eventually gets washed into Kroo Bay and other outlets around the city. From there, depending on the tides, it gets washed out to sea and ends up infecting Lumley beach. And still they dream on about turning Lumley into an international tourist paradise!

In the early days, the only structures on either side of the beach road were Cape Sierra at one end and the Atlantic restaurant at the other. Nonetheless my family and the relatively few other families that frequented the beach then had very good times there. ‘Development’ first began at Lumley with the appearance of beach bars in the eighties. I remember one in particular from that era, Seaview, for its considerable charm and quite extensive menu. This and the others were later pulled down by the NPRC, but a new generation of beach bars emerged, even stronger. Some were crowd pullers, like Binta’s, with its excellent barbecued chicken, and De village, with its delicious goat afra, Gambay style. They all competed vigorously for customers and put on free shows with local bands and artists. During festive seasons they would stage special events and local companies would organize promotions there. Maltina had a play area with swings and slides at De village, and this made the establishment popular with children and their parents. On the whole the beach bars provided affordable entertainment and relaxation for beachgoers.

These beach bars had been built with the full knowledge and blessing of the previous government, but when the APC came to power it decided it no longer wanted them. They were all methodically demolished, in some cases their contents looted, without a cent of compensation being paid to the owners. The proprietors and workers begged and pleaded and protested, all to no avail. I remember one structure in particular, among the last to be built, down close to the Atlantic restaurant end. It was an elaborately constructed two-storey affair, into which a considerable amount of time and money had obviously been invested. I forget the name of the place or the owner, but he protested loudly that he had obtained all the necessary building permits and approvals from the relevant ministries, including Tourism. He was from the diaspora and had come to invest in his country with his hard-earned savings from abroad. He even published photocopies of all his receipts for the different government taxes levied upon him just a few weeks earlier. All to no avail. His place was torn down like all the rest, and there were allegations that some of his appliances were looted. The APC had decided that henceforth there were to be no permanent structures on the beach and that was that.

Lumley beach has not recovered since the demolitions. This Christmas was a relatively drab affair at the beach. The only show I heard of was a festival that required an entrance fee of Le15,000.00 per head – quite expensive for a family of five or six! But amazingly, despite the government’s insistence a scant two years ago that there were to be no permanent structures on the beach, the beach bars are slowly returning, but in a different form and exorbitantly priced. New people are tentatively erecting structures on the beach, presumably with the full blessing of the authorities. One can only imagine what the former proprietors must now be feeling. The government game at Lumley seems to be, “You pay, you build, you enjoy small, we break down. You pay again, you build……..”

To cap the festive season in the west of the city, the government turned its attention to Wilkinson Rd. As the bulldozers continued their relentless work businesses and residences alike fell victim. I have written elsewhere about the damage caused without payment of compensation by the government. The effect on the festive season was palpable. Along the whole length of Wilkinson Rd there was little sign of Christmas cheer. Bars and restaurants shut down or were crippled. The popular Montana restaurant at Whitepole quickly closed, with a section of it in imminent danger of collapse. Across the road Delicious restaurant was pummeled and isolated. The supermarkets, all five or six of them, are hanging on by the skin of their teeth, and certainly had no Christmas cheer to offer. Comium was unable to provide its usual presentation of Father Christmas. All along the length and breadth of Wilkinson Rd, businesses closed or remained in the doldrums. In my area, virtually the entire festive season passed without electricity or water supply.. With a little foresight and planning on the part of the authorities this was entirely avoidable. To my friends who argue in favour of this Wilkinson Rd project and the notion of seizing private property without paying compensation I say, “Be careful! Where will the government go next? If SLRA’s absurd, retroactive 65- feet- from- the- center- line right of way is applied in your area, it might catch you!”

HOME