By Nafisatu Olayinka-Deen
Freetown, 24th November 2025 –As a way of improving public sanitation and promoting tourism, the Rotary Club of Freetown-Sunset has handed over a newly constructed public toilet facility at the Aberdeen Lumley beach road to the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and the National Tourist Board.
This initiative was birthed by the immediate Rotarian past president, Millecent Cole, as her presidential project during her tenure. “Every rotary year, a president has to identify a project you want to work on and this initiative has been on my mind even before I took up office. I realized that in Sierra Leone, public sanitation is a problem, public toilets are limited and that is what prompted this initiative,” she said.
She also mentioned that the initiative falls under the Club’s initiative of disease prevention and the Rotary Club of Freetown-Sunset identifies problems that affect a wider community and then try to solve them. “Here at the Aberdeen Lumley beach road is a long stretch and we realized that there is no public toilet around and beach goers and other people who come around for recreational purposes sometimes have to go back or use toilet facilities in restaurants”, Millicent said.
The toilet facility includes gender separated toilets and access for persons with disabilities.
A representative from the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Alie Badara Koroma, expressed gratitude on behalf of the ministry, citing that the initiative was timely and a necessity. “This initiative will benefit community people, beach goers and tourists, so we will ensure that we monitor the maintenance of this facility”, he said.
Mohamed Bah, planning and Development officer at the National Tourist Board, shared the same sentiment as the representative from the ministry. “This initiative is timely, we will ensure to monitor the maintenance of this facility as the Rotary Club has officially handed the facility to us”, he noted.
The Rotary Club of Freetown-Sunset is an international humanitarian Club that brings professionals together to serve humanity and they identify problems. Speaking at the event, the Current Club President, Musa Komeh, noted that the Rotary club has been in existence in Sierra Leone for over a century and these are some of the things they have been doing.
At the end of the event, Rotarian Millicent Cole acknowledged that the plot of land for the facility was generously provided by the National Tourist Board. She added that a small user fee will be levied by the Board to ensure regular maintenance of the facility, with all proceeds dedicated to its maintenance and sustainability.
She also mentioned that the club will monitor the facility from time to time.
