Mayor Puts Freetown in Cage

Residents of Freetown consider the moves made by Freetown Mayor Herbert George Williams (in photo) in setting up by-laws and collecting local taxes as adding an unnecessary burden on the people of the city as according to this media interviewed, monies and funds collected by the Mayor and his stash of money mongers at the council do so only in their own selfish interest.

John Talor-Pierce, a resident of George-Brook Dwazack one of the places where the Mayor has intensified his exploit said “it is three years since we started paying local tax but never have seen anything been done with our monies, the Mayor promised us with a modern market stall two years ago during his campaigns but has once never mentioned anything about it to us talk least of making moves to erect the promised market”.

Taylor-Pierce reasoned that “if taxes are collected from us in such exacting ways, then the Mayor and his men must be seen making the same in reciprocal but that is a big void” he noted.

Alimamy Kamara a store owner at Sewa grounds in central Freetown was particularly disenchanted by the fact that “we have been dislodged fro almost two years now with promises from the Mayor and his tax collecting crooks that modern stalls will be built for us in less than two months and now the project is now a mere waste and an additional white elephant amidst the many belong to the government” the educated sales man told Sierra Express Media in Freetown.

Series of other ventures undertaken by the Mayor and his men have been described as appalling, a situation many who know his track record have described as his trade mark. “check out Wakenut”  an ex-colleague of the Mayor hinted adding that Herbert once headed a  church but was brought to naught due to his corrupt tendencies and  dispensations. What marked development programme could the city council ever point to some have been led to ask; knowing that out taxes will once again be collected and no proper accounting given about it because there seems nobody to be checking out the moves and activities of the Mayor a concerned citizen complained.

Many areas of the city have been barricaded by mounting check points forcing people to pay the local tax even though it seems they don’t trust the City Council with management of their tax money and as such see the movement as a sheer exploitation.     

It could be recalled that the Freetown City Council has launched a new set of bye-laws to maintain decency and proper sanitation within the municipality. The laws that were launched on Monday were recently passed by Parliament.

The laws are statutory instruments made by the municipal government; prohibiting the misuse of public spaces, employment of children, nuisance and control of dogs and other animals. The launch was preceded by a procession from Calaba Town, the eastern extremity of Freetown, to Lumley in the West end of Freetown. Mayor of Freetown, Herbert George-Williams said the bye-laws were aimed at maintaining sanity and developing Freetown like other cities in the world. He said any city without bye-laws to regulate the citizenry would never prosper.

The Mayor said his management was frustrated by what he described as the nuisance being caused by street traders in Freetown. He said the council was determined to enforce the bye-laws. The new laws have been met with mixed reactions from Freetown residents. While some of them welcome the laws, others say they would affect the livelihood of poor parents who send out their children to sell.

They added that such laws should have warranted city-wide consultations and engagements before they were laid before parliament for the statutory twenty-one days. Defaulters of the bye-laws will be tried in Magistrates Court No. 12 in Freetown. 

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