IDPs in Port Loko live in peace

A high profile delegation of UN humanitarian agencies that visited Port Loko, 50 km northeast of Freetown, on Wednesday discovered an atmosphere of peace and security in the town and its environs, a UN and government report says. The joint delegation, including representatives from UNICEF, UNHCR and WFP, report that some 2,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are living in makeshift shelter they built themselves. However, the construction of about 25 booths comprising some 200 rooms is in progress. The camp can hold about 2,000 IDP's and wells are being dug to provide them clean water, the report says. There is a heavy presence of UNAMSIL and ECOMOG troops who patrol volatile areas in the outskirts of the town every hour, the report says. However, reports of rebels looting civilian property are posing a security threat in Maforki chiefdom, in Port Loko District, the 'Concord Times' reported on Wednesday, quoting Carter Sesay, a parliamentarian. Sesay said that combatants remove corrugated iron sheeting from houses in the surrounding area and sell them in Freetown. In response, Sierra Leonean information minister Julius Spencer told IRIN that looting of civilian property took place in areas not patrolled by ECOMOG and UNAMSIL. Schools are operating in Port Loko despite the numerous constraints faced by teachers, pupils and parents, the report said.