16/7/25

As part of our continued flood mitigation efforts, Freetown City Council has been working in close collaboration with residents to remove silt and garbage from critical drainage channels across the city. In the last two weeks, over 1,000 young people have been engaged in this initiative. To encourage community ownership and ensure sustainability, FCC through our councillors is mobilising an average of 50 youths daily per community to clean gutters and waterways in identified flood-prone areas.

So far, flood mitigation works have been completed in the following locations: Mayenkineh, in Calaba Town; Taylor Street at Kissy Old Road; Guard Street Market by Fourah Bay Road; Car Wash, Tengbeh Town; Congo Cross and Signal Hill dump sites; Macauley Street/Circular Road; Wallace Johnson Street including Central Mosque, Boss Station and Big Market area; a number of FCC managed markets at Guard Street–Dove Cut by Eastern Police; Malama Thomas Street, Salad Gron Market; Peace Market, Ferry Junction; Sani Abacha Street; and Priscilla Street

This phase of our 2025 flood mitigation work is supported by FCC’s owned-source revenue, Irish Aid, Chinese Embassy, the Road Maintenance Fund Administration (RMFA) and other sponsors. The initiative forms part of our “Dorti Mus Go” campaign, which was launched on June 27, 2025, at Calaba Town Market. The campaign aims to improve sanitation and flood management by raising awareness of new sanitation byelaws, promoting the use of approved waste service providers, and implementing annual city-wide flood prevention activities.

Sincere thanks to the FCC Climate Action and Disaster Management and Sanitation Committees for their oversight, and to the Disaster Risk Management Unit for their hands-on implementation of this important work. As we are striving for a cleaner Freetown, FCC urges all residents to avoid disposing of waste or wastewater into gutters and to register with FCC-approved waste service providers for proper and effective waste management.