Following months of misinformation and misuse of the Ephraim Robinson Municipal Primary School playground, a successful community meeting was held at the school compound last week.

Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr was accompanied by Deputy Mayor Kweku Lisk, a cross section of FCC Councillors, the Chief Administrator, Head of Education Department, the Legal Office, City engineer and other staff members.

Also present were Aruna Sesay, Western Area Provincial Security Coordinator, ONS and Samuel Simeon Sesay, Chairman, Local Police Partnership Board.

With statements after statements, it was clarified that the Ephraim Robinson Municipal Primary School is the property of and under the operation of Freetown City Council (FCC).

That FCC has a policy of cooperation with any person or organization that wants to support development in parts of Freetown.

That Hon Alfred Thompson approached the management of FCC proposing to lay astro turf on the Ephraim Robinson Municipal Primary School playground and to then manage the playground as a commercial enterprise.

That said the management of FCC welcomed the proposal to have the astro turf donated to the primary school but rejected the proposal to commercialize the school playground under the management of Hon Alfred Thompson.

During the meeting, various speakers further clarified that several attempts had been made by FCC, by the Minister of Western Area, ONS and the Western Area Provincial Security Committee (PROSEC) to meet with Hon Alfred Thompson.

But Hon Thompson refused to attend any of these meetings and instead proceeded to build concrete walls with a raised “wire mesh” around the school playground. By doing so he blocked access to the school playground for the children, effectively causing children to pass beneath the wire mesh by the wall. In the event of a fire or any other disaster, as authorities have lately warned, the school children could be crushed in a stampede as they would not be able to get out of their classrooms and into the school playground running with speed or by moving with ease at normal times.

Mayor Aki-Sawyerr used this opportunity to also explain to the community that the rumors about the school playground being sold to a church were completely untrue.

She reminded the local imam of their longstanding friendship  through the United Council of Imams and reassured him that accusations that FCC would stop Muslim prayers from being offered in the school playground were not true and were part of a bid, by an unidentified individuals, to illegally take control of the school playground for commercial purposes.

Mayor Aki-Sawyerr reiterated the point that the school playground is first and foremost is meant for use by the school children and that the safety of the children is of paramount importance.

FCC will therefore remove the block work that is preventing the children from directly accessing their school playground.

FCC says it will also remove the wire mesh in front of the school classrooms that have turned the school round be seen as a “prison-like” environment.

The walls and wire mesh that are not blocking access to the classrooms (those facing the street) are providing security for the school and will not be removed, FCC declared.

The FCC management also made it clear that the school playground would not be commercialized for personal purposes. Support for the school’s development is welcome but not at the expense of safety and access for the school children.

The meeting, which went on for almost 2 hours, was extremely constructive, giving community members the opportunity to ask questions and obtain clarifications from the Mayor.

Other Freetown City Council representatives and PROSEC members were in attendance. Accusations about Mayor Aki-Sawyerr selling land at the Congo Town cemetery were also being exposed as false, thus lacking substance.

The meeting ended with an agreement for the speedy up of a continued communication and collaboration between FCC and the Congo Town community as both parties all work together for the development of the school and the local community.