f goods and services have increased considerably, making life very difficult for most people including both public and informal economy workers.
- Two districts (Kailahun and Kenema in the eastern region) have been quarantined since 6th August, 2014 (people are not allowed to go in and out of these two districts except essential staff and goods).
- Measures regarding public transportation is another area that is impacting on the people especially workers, traders and ordinary citizens who travel mostly in buses, mini buses and taxis to the city – to transact their businesses. With the reduction in the services provided by the Commercial Bike Riders (7 am – 7pm daily), taxis and other public transport, transport owners have unilaterally increased fares much to the discomfort of commuters. In addition, there is now a reduction in the number of passengers carried by buses and taxis posing serious challenge to passengers in terms of access to transportation.
- The banking sector has also been affected by the Ebola crisis through the delivery of its services that have been scaled down from the normal 9 am to 3:30 pm to between 9 am to 1:30 pm Mondays to Fridays.
- The closure of entertainment centres country wide continues to pose a big challenge to the youths who normally would go to video centres to watch films and football among others.
- The declaration of a state of public health emergency has also affected the tourism industry, with significant drops in their operations, due mainly to cancellation of flights into the country, as well as activities undertaken by hotels that are sponsored by business outlets.
- The restriction on movement of people in some parts of the country continues to affect them both socially and economically, as most people including street vendors, hawkers, and traders, depend on doing businesses of all sorts in the now quarantined Ebola districts of Kailahun and Kenema.
- What is even more worrying about the Ebola crisis is that no pronouncement has yet been made about the date for the re-opening of schools and colleges for the 2014/2015 academic year.
IMPACT OF EBOLA OUTBREAK ON THE LABOUR MOVEMENT IN SIERRA LEONE
The Ebola epidemic in the country has accounted for enormous negative impact on all facets of life including the Labour movement. The Labour movement has been hard hit as workers in both the formal and informal sectors are adversely affected in several ways. The informal economy workers have been affected in terms of being exposed to the disease due to the type of work they do. A good number of their members have been victims of the virus and accounted for several deaths.
Specifically, the Sierra Leone Traders Union has recorded a death toll of 87 as of 14th August, 2014 countrywide. However, the union continues to monitor causality rate and figures on its membership in all regions across the country.
The normal daily and weekly marketing days/activities at specific places have been banned nationwide by Government. There is also minimal access to funds from the banks due to the restricted opening and closing hours of banking operations.
The epidemic has also impacted on the Commercial motor bike Riders whose operation has been limited from 7:00am to 7:00pm. This means a considerable loss of income to them.
The motor drivers are also not left out of the group of affected workers in the country by the outbreak of the Ebola disease. As a result of the restriction of movement of people from one place to the other and the continued quarantining of places, drivers can no longer commute passengers from place to place.
As a result of the effects of the Ebola epidemic on both the commercial motor bike riders and motor drivers especially the death of their members, have jointly on 8th September, 2014 issued out a press statement pointing out the total number of deaths (Bike Riders 14 and Motor Drivers 28) countrywide among their ranks with an intention of halting their operations for two weeks.
The artisanal fishermen have recorded low catch because of limited period of staying at sea. In spite 