By Feima Sesay
Orange Sierra Leone, the leading Tele-Communications company in the country in partnership with Youth Alliance and Initiative for Innovation and Environmental Development, has on Friday 5th May 2023 ended the Environment, Health and Safety Week by planting 3000 trees where the Mudslide occurred at Mortomeh Community in Regent
This is geared towards reducing flooding risk in order to raise awareness on environmental safety and protection for Mortomeh and Freetown as a whole.
The loss of these trees canopy has directly affected catchment areas for water reserves thereby exacerbating the risks of landslides, flooding, and coastal erosion as well as the loss of trees and vegetation cover also threatens biodiversity.
Given the overview of the week event, the Public Relations Officer OSL, Mabel Mason, intimated that the week was set aside as part of their commitment towards preserving and ensuring that they protect the environment from climate change. She continued that the week was also set aside to raise the awareness among their staff members, stakeholders and the county as a whole about the impact of damaging the environment and how that can drastically affect their operations as humans.
She highlighted that, at the start of the week, they were taken through by an Environmental Protection Agency Representative on environmental health and safety and a host of other engagements throughout the week.
‘’This is a call to action for all as long as you are a human being. The environment does not need us to survive and to succeed. We however need the environment on the contrary. We cannot survive without the environment, but the environment can survive without us.” She noted.
She maintained that everyone has the responsibility to preserve the environment, does things that will encourage the continuation of human existence and how people must not burn trees adding that if they cut down one tree, they must ensure they plant ten more trees.
She furthered that they must ensure they dispose their refuse the right way. She Advised that, they must do all they can by preserving the environment, according to her, by doing so they are also preserving their own lives.
National Olympic Committee President, Prince Sualley, commended the company for such a laudable venture, adding that they must ensure to protect the environment to prevent natural disasters such as the mudslide that occurred in August 14th, 2017.
He stated that other companies or organizations should emulate such venture, stating how the environment needs to be preserved for human existence to continue.
Chief Lansana Kamara, the residual chief in the Mortomeh community, applauded the company for undertaking the tree planting exercise. He also made mention of the people who died in the mudslide.
