*By Bockarie Kukuku Musa*
*The Minister of Political and Public Affairs, Hon. Nanette Thomas, the National Coordinator of Public Mobilization, Mr. Ousman Sankoh, National Coordinator of Outreach, Mr. Mucktarr Tejan-Cole and the Coordinator, Civil Right Coalition, Mr. Alphonso Manley* visited *the Kissy Road Cemetery on Thursday 11th May, 2017* to get a first hand information on the recent disaster which led to the destruction of several graves.
Speaking to *the Chief Cemetery Keeper, Mr. Abdul Karim Kamara* informed the Minister and her team that they are very saddened to see the destruction of graves and calls for urgent action to prevent further occurrence. He added that the fallen of two giant cotton trees on the graves were due to the burning of unwanted materials around the trees which resulted in the killing of the parent roots.
He ended by calling on the Government of Sierra Leone through the *Freetown City Council (FCC)* to help in the fencing of the cemetery in order to prevent people from using the cemetery as dumping site or as ghetto.
*The Coordinator, Civil Right Coalition, Mr. Alphonso Manley* stressed that the cemetery keepers must be vigilant in securing the cemetery and urge them to liaise regularly with the relevant MDA’s especially Freetown City Council (FCC).
*The Minister of Political and Public Affairs, Hon. Nanette Thomas* in her statement expressed dissatisfaction on the path of the resident of the area for using the cemetery as their dumping site.
She went on further to encourage the Mayor of the Freetown City Council to please help with the clearing of the fallen trees to avoid unnecessary problems when it comes to the burial of the dead. The Cemetery Keeper informed the Minister that the Freetown City Council will take full responsibility to repair the damaged graves
The visit was climaxed with a conducted tour around the cemetery to assess the level of destruction.
