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Xinhua News Agency/PA Images

'They have nowhere else': Sierra Leone mudslide victims move back to homes in danger zone

The August mudslide killed more than 1,000 people and there are fears for another landslide in the next rainy season.

FOUR MONTHS AFTER the landslides that killed her husband and more than a thousand others, Mariama Kamara has returned to the mountainside that collapsed onto their home to live in an unfinished building.

Kamara is one of hundreds of Sierra Leoneans recently kicked out of three government camps set up in the wake of the 14 August disaster, when heavy rains caused the partial disintegration of Sugar Loaf mountain, now a red rock scar looming over the country’s capital.

That day, heavy rains lashed the slopes left bare by chronic deforestation in Freetown, and huge boulders suddenly detached, rolling onto informal settlements, crushing shacks and enveloping entire households in the Regent district in red mud.

“We are back again at Regent, trying to pick up what is left after the disaster,” Kamara told AFP, breastfeeding her eight-month-old son while sitting on a cinder block.

Handed €280 (235 euros) by the British government and the World Food Programme to start a new life as a widow with three young children, the 27-year-old felt she had little choice but to return to the danger zone she had fled.

“I sold some of the handouts to pay transport fare for my two children to go to my mother, until I find a suitable place,” she explained, describing how she ended up living in one of four unrecognised settlements in the Regentarea.

There are fears another landslide could strike Regent when the next rainy season rolls around.

Xinhua News Agency / PA Images Xinhua News Agency / PA Images / PA Images

The school with no roof 

Despite the lack of sanitation and shelter, a school still operates in the ruined mountain district, with around 300 children learning to read and write in a building with no roof, doors or windows. Many of the students were orphaned in August.

Francis Abu Sankoh, a community leader, said the government had told him everyone eking out a precarious living had to get out by mid-November, but he refused to co-operate.

“We will not force these people to leave while they still have nowhere else to stay,” he told AFP, saying he knew of nearly 200 households living in half-finished structures in Regent.

Xinhua News Agency / PA Images Xinhua News Agency / PA Images / PA Images

Relief workers are meanwhile exhausted after four months filling in for a government that is too under-resourced to carry out basic disaster management, with the Red Cross handing out its own payments of $300 to 1,000 people in late December.

“We have played our part to respond to the emergency, and it is time to release the affected victims,” said Father George Crisafulli, Country Director for Don Bosco Fambul, an orphanage turned halfway house for homeless Sierra Leoneans.

“It is the responsibility of government to provide financial support and housing for them,” Crisafulli added, as he prepared for the imminent departure of around 100 pregnant women and new mothers.

He noted that the government had promised to give financial assistance to child victims via a mobile money wallet, but they were yet to receive anything. Children who lost their parents would remain at the centre, he said.

Xinhua News Agency / PA Images Xinhua News Agency / PA Images / PA Images

Some orphaned children were taken in by families, but many are too poor to feed another mouth while facing their own dire straits, said Cecelia Mansaray a project officer for British charity Street Child.

“People are still suffering months after the disaster,” she said. “We have cases of people in unfinished buildings around Regent, Kaningo and Kamayama who had no place to go after they had left the emergency camps.”

Long road to Mile Six 

In the last 15 years, four major floods have affected more than 220,000 people in Sierra Leone and caused severe economic damage, according to a World Bank report issued in September.

This summer’s was the deadliest yet: 1,141 people were declared dead or unaccounted for, according to official figures.

The World Bank estimates that $82.41 million is needed over the next three years for the recovery, or about 2.2 percent of GDP, including rebuilding the six health centres and 59 schools affected. Access to clean drinking water is also a serious problem.

Xinhua News Agency / PA Images Xinhua News Agency / PA Images / PA Images

Efforts to resettle flood victims in previous years have failed, as the government has directed them to Mile Six, an area without transport links, running water or electricity — even if it is safe from the weather — meaning residents soon drift back to dangerous neighbourhoods that have easier commutes.

Ismail Tarawali, Head Coordinator of the Office of National Security (ONS) which oversaw relief efforts, has accused some families of making “fake claims” for survivor packages.

In the medium to long term, Tarawali said affected households would be given extra relief — if there was money to pay for it.

Meanwhile 52 affordable houses with basic facilities are also under construction at Mile Six, and a mortgage scheme will be developed for survivors who had valid land permits for their damaged houses, he said.

But eligibility will likely only apply to a tiny fraction of the victims, while the rest will find themselves back where they already were, living on the edges of society with everything to lose from next year’s floods.

- © AFP 2018.

Read: Over 180 killed as Philippines storm triggers flash floods and mudslides>

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    Mute Adele Sheehan
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    Dec 25th 2017, 10:21 AM

    Oh God, hope they’re okay

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    Mute Leitrim303
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    Dec 25th 2017, 6:50 PM

    @Adele Sheehan: how can be ok when they are bodies. RIP

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    Mute John O'Shea
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    Dec 25th 2017, 7:04 PM

    @Leitrim303: the comment was made 9 hours ago you simpleton.

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    Mute Dlow Brown
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    Dec 25th 2017, 7:17 PM

    @Leitrim303: well done Leitrim.

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    Mute The Red Devil
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    Dec 25th 2017, 11:21 AM

    Christmas is not always a happy time for people please spare a thought for those…….and for the emergency services who are away from their families dealing with whatever comes at them
    Hopefully not as bad as it sounds this story

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    Mute Penney Mortimer
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    Dec 25th 2017, 2:17 PM

    The rainfall yesterday in this area was horrendous . Roads and bridges treacherous when rainfall high. My thoughts are with the families today . And I don’t think anyone should be passing comment on whether there was drinking or not . It’s really none of our business and we need to take into account that at some stage family and friends may read this post and we need to respect their feelings .

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    Mute Mark Murphy
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    Dec 25th 2017, 12:11 PM

    God love them. There is no right or wrong here. Prayers for the family especially on today’s date

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    Mute OU812
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    Dec 25th 2017, 1:30 PM

    @Mark Murphy: there absolutely is right and wrong.

    But let’s wait for the facts to emerge rather than assume what happened.

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    Mute Mark Murphy
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    Dec 25th 2017, 6:13 PM

    @OU812: what a stupid comment

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    Mute Veronica
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    Dec 25th 2017, 3:09 PM

    Oh god absolutely awful. Devastating news for their families.

    I really appreciate our rescue services, they truly are selfless.

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    Mute Dean Burroughs
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    Dec 25th 2017, 11:40 PM

    @Veronica: selfless… It’s their job. Id say professional certainly not selfless.

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    Mute Ben Dunne
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    Dec 26th 2017, 11:19 AM

    @Dean Burroughs:
    Bit more than being professional,most of us don’t risk getting killed helping others. I used to take them for granted until Rescue 116 crashed, used to watch it fly over my house several times a day without a second thought and now I can’t help having tremendous respect for people in that field.

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    Mute Tosh Lavery
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    Dec 25th 2017, 5:01 PM

    Sad, may they Rest In Peace, and the Family’s find the strength to deal with this tragedy

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    Mute Arthur Pewty
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    Dec 25th 2017, 5:29 PM

    Rest in peace young men. My sympathies to all families involved. x

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    Mute Finnster
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    Dec 25th 2017, 2:59 PM

    This is terrible news for these poor families. So tragic , it can happen so easy

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    Mute vero
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    Dec 25th 2017, 12:41 PM

    Please god they will be ok, horrible news at any time of year but worse for the day thats in it

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    Mute patrickmansfield
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    Dec 25th 2017, 6:15 PM

    Prayers to the family and friends of both men,very sad news to get on Christmas morning

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    Mute helen walsh
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    Dec 25th 2017, 1:33 PM

    There was a lot of fog and bad weather, hope they are found alive. Young men are invincible, hope they hadn’t been drinking. Terrible for the families.

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    Mute Alan Chapman
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    Dec 25th 2017, 2:19 PM

    @helen walsh: I think you meant , young men think they’re invincible. Terrible tragedy at any time of year but especially the day that’s in it . Our thoughts also with all the search and rescue services involved in this.

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    Mute Mark Jasper
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    Dec 25th 2017, 9:32 PM

    Well done to my fellow colleagues in search and rescue for a quick and unfortunate recovery today.

    R.I.P. to the two men

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    Mute Siobhan Rosemary
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    Dec 25th 2017, 7:46 PM

    Shocking

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    Mute Michael O'Neill
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    Dec 25th 2017, 11:54 PM

    RIP very sad.

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