THE FINAL SOLUTION TO ERADICATE THE EBOLA VIRUS FROM FREETOWN By Abdul Malik Bangura Frustrated we are now, seeing our beloved country losing its eleventh medical doctor, having the highest Ebola confirmed cases, and being named as having the second highest Ebola confirmed deaths, one will dare to ask if we are on the right direction in this fight. Irrespective of all the necessary medical consignment and cash donations being provided by our Foreign partners, the rapid growth of ebola cases is thus living the lives of millions waiting days when their long carved future plans would be cut short by this unfriendly virus. I dont want to agree that the governments plans in this fight is totally out of track, but I believe its still not been able to provide the necessary security personnel in this fight. With the security personnel not able to man quarantine homes, who do you think should be involved in this fight? a friend yelled at me. Swiftly I replied, Lets involve the youths. I mean the indigenous youths of a particular community, backed by our state security forces, we would surly be able to defeat this disease. I can confirm, one of the major reasons for the uncontrollable spread of the EVD is that people under quarantine, are escaping to mingle with others in their community, or other communities. It was disgusting when listening a bbc interview on a Sierra Leonean, living at Rogbangba, in the Western Rural District, who had lost his sister to Ebola and was under quarantine but was accessed by the journalist, Andrew Harding, on his way from the mosque after prayers. The Rogbangba community itself is situated few meters from Hastings, where the largest Ebola treatment center is. Let this not be seen as criticizing state security, but the problem associated with manning quarantine homes by the security personnel is that most of them are total strangers in the communities they are taken to. Also, most houses are not fenced, and there are lot of joint compounds consisting of 5, 6, 7 and sometimes 8 addresses. Normally, there are more than 5 entrances to those houses, and the security personnel are sometimes unaware of these, or are sometimes not enough to secure all those entrances. I made a view at a quarantine house in Kendal Street, via Mountain Cut, East of Freetown, I was shock to see only one police officer sited in the shade, few meters from the house, which hasnt any fence. Another fact here is that they dont even know the faces of people under quarantine. This is when they will escape to go to market places, their places of work, or even relocate to other places. Involving indigenous youth groups here means that since they are in the same community where homes are quarantined, they will definitely know the people that are under quarantine and also they would be able to trace houses where sick people are in. These are to be vigilante groups that would work on a voluntary basis to help our beloved country. I was extremely pause to see people with loads on their heads heading for various lorry parks for Christmas celebrations. I feel the authority of our President has been undermined. Here also, youths could play an active role in it- by restricting the flow of strangers into their communities. Actually, the pace has already been set by the government. To complement the 6am to 6pm Monday-Friday trading deadline and the 12pm Saturday treading deadline, it would be advisable that youth are pleaded to (not forced) for community service. They should set up road checks to restrict the movements of people in and around their communities at night (thank God most of them have voluntarily setup streetlights) , and also conduct house to house checking for sick people. I write from what they discuss with me in ghettos and slumps. I shared their views with all and look forward for the government to give them the authority to help in this fight. They have a greater role to play. Not for money, I certainly believe they could work on voluntary. All the youths need now is to let them feel responsible. Make them feel that the destiny of our country lies in their hands. Make them feel that they have a role to play, and the role is to help lift the future of our country. Lastly, make them feel that they are heroes. With all these collective strive, I believe Ebola will be defeated in Sierra Leone soonest.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 10:51:12 +0000
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