By Pastor Mohamed Sesay
As the country’s environmentalists’ attention is turned to Freetown as the main sand mining hub in the country, Lungi is being prepared for a mighty disaster by sand miners.
The destructive way that sand is being mined on the beaches of Lungi town especially the Mahera area, it is only a matter of time for a very flood to cause massive destruction for those who have built close to the beach area and beyond.
When reporters from the Comment newspaper went to investigate sand mining at Lungi, they found trucks in large numbers transporting sand from the beaches with impunity.
The truck drivers and their apprentices told the reporters that it was the Paramount Chief that gave them permission to mine up to a hundred metres from the sea level.
Comment newspaper reporters found water from the sea having moved over 150 metres from the sea level and causing destruction upstream.
Concrete fencing were found to have been destroyed by water and the water is moving very fast towards the land area.
The reporters found rubbish from the sea in unexpected places as the sea water claims new territory because of sand mining.
There was found deep into the land area soft spots which are now like quicksand which can swallow whole adults.
Sand mining has completely killed tourism in the Lungi area as the beach itself is filled with debris from the sea with no sand again to sit on.
Upon investigation it was found that most of the trucks carting sand away from the beach, belong to the PC and other town and village chiefs who have made sand mining big business regardless of its destructive nature of the environment.
The PC told the reporters that Lungi depends on sand mining when in fact most of the people at Lungi are against sand mining as they fear impending serious floods that will destroy their homes forever.
