PORTEE JUNCTION, FREETOWN, 20 October 2026 – Traders at Portee Junction Market on Bai Bureh Road are calling on the Freetown City Council (FCC) to urgently intervene after two severely ill persons lying on the concrete slab at the centre of the new road started emitting a strong odour, disrupting business and polluting the community.
According to market women and shop owners who spoke on Monday, the two persons – believed to be homeless – have been stranded at the slab for several days, barely able to move, and their condition has deteriorated.
“Customers no longer want to sit near our stalls because of the smell. We are losing sales. We pity them, but this is now a health problem for all of us,” said a trader selling cooked food metres away from the slab.
Another trader added: “We have called and called. We are calling on FCC and other responsible stakeholders to come. If these people die here and decompose, the whole market will be at risk.”
Portee Junction is one of the busiest commercial points in East End Freetown, linking Wellington, Calaba Town and Jui, with heavy foot traffic, food vendors, and transport garages. The new road slabs, built as part of the Bai Bureh Road widening project, have in recent months become makeshift shelters for some of the city’s most vulnerable.
Traders say the stench is now unbearable, especially in the afternoon sun and after rains when drainage water settles around the slab. They fear flies, contamination of food, and possible spread of disease in a market where hundreds eat and shop daily.
By law, FCC is responsible for public health, sanitation and welfare of destitute persons within Freetown, working with the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Health. In previous cases at Lumley, Bombay and Shell markets, FCC’s Social Services Unit, together with Red Cross volunteers, evacuated critically ill street persons to Connaught Hospital and to the King George VI Home at Grafton.
As of Monday evening, no evacuation team had reached Portee.
Traders are asking FCC to:
– Immediately evacuate the two persons to a health facility;
– Fumigate and clean the slab area;
– Increase monitoring and support for homeless and mentally ill persons along the Bai Bureh Road corridor.
The community says time is critical and is appealing to FCC Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr’s office, FCC Councillor for Ward 405, and the Social Welfare Ministry to act today.
