By Thomas Dixon in Bumbuna
232News
Concerns are coming from the people of Ferebeya, Dan Sogia Chiefdom in Tonkolili district in the North of Sierra Leone after they have been relocated from a land flowing with milk and honey to a dry land about how they are being treated.
The people are land owners of the iron ore mines in the district but where forcefully relocated when African Minerals Limited started blasting.
Daniel Kellie Conteh, a young man in the state that their concerns have been raised several rimes and that it seems as if people are using their plight to make money.
He explained that they were forcefully relocated to a new place by Africa Mineral Limited (AML) to a land where they promised them that they will meet everything.
He explained that three villages Feregbeya, Wondugu and Forie were relocated and that it is alleged that $24M was spent to build houses for them and that the contract was given to the brother of the former President of Sierra Leone Ernest Bai Koroma.
“Just look at what they said they spent $24M to build. The houses are collapsing and there is no running water and electricity in the whole community,” he said
Another Young Man, Foreh Bangura explained that there are no documents for the place where they are relocated and that every time the people who owned the land will be tell them that they are strangers.
He explained that there is no fertile land for them to do farm and there is also nowhere for them to bury their loved ones who have passed on to eternity.
He said that when they were relocated, African Mineral used to give a bag of rice to each family plus Le 150,000 with a promise that they will be giving them that until a farm land will be provided but that has stopped and that there is no land to do farming.
“The reason we are always complaining is because we are trying to prevent a security threat, they removed us from where we were surviving to a dry land and they are not listening to us,” another young man said.
He lamented that the current company Kingho/ Leone Rock is refusing to give jobs to people from their own area and they even chased out of the place they do their artisanal mining.
Efforts to get the current Minister of Mines Timothy Kabbah prove futile.
