Koidu Holdings expansion plan provokes protest… PC Saquee’s vehicle vandalized
The expansion plan of Koidu Holdings Limited from 250 meters to 500 meters deep into Koidu City, has provoked an intense protest action staged at the company’s organized public disclosure ceremony held at the Miatta Conference Center in Freetown.
Involved in the protest action were members of the Kono Student Union (KONSU) who are apparently opposed to the expansion plan on grounds that the people within the current 250 meters concession that are affected by the operations of the company are yet to be properly resettled and that the expansion will only add up to the number of affected persons.
The students also accused the company of posting falsehood on its website. One such falsehood highlighted by the students is that the company is providing the union with annual subventions – a claim they unequivocally debunked.
To register their dissatisfaction, the students walked out of the hall in an organized manner and displayed anti Koidu Holdings and anti expansion placards at the frontage of the Miatta Conference Centre amidst the flashing lights of journalists an onlookers.
The protest took a different turn when Paramount Chief Paul Ngaba Saquee’s vehicle was surrounded by the angry students who accused him of lying in bed with Koidu Holdings and demanding that he kicks against the expansion plan or face their wrath in the not too distant future.
The situation was so tense that PC Saquee’s driver decided to engage the reverse gear so as to make good their escape from the crowd of angry protesters. In the process, the chief’s vehicle hit and dented the official vehicle with registration number AEF 141, assigned to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. The back windscreen of the chief’s vehicle with registration number PCS 002, also got severely damaged as a result of the bang.
Responding to the seeming chaos, Koidu Holdings Chief Communications Officer, Ibrahim Sorie Kamara, referred to it as unfortunate, saying he was expecting the students to have channeled their grievances in a constructive way rather than resorting to what he called ‘an uncalled for behaviour’.
According to Mr. Ibrahim Sorie Kamara, the expansion is not for anyone to be against because the government that has the final saying has authorized or sanctioned it already.
Meanwhile, the Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD) along with its autonomous platforms, the Campaign for Just Mining and the Association of Journalists on Mining and Extractives (AJME), has put out a press release raising serious concerns over the potential expansion of the Koidu Holdings concession.
Among the concerns is that the expansion is coming at a time when the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) that has to do with the relocation of 258 households within the current 250 meters is facing mountain challenges such as the snail pace in constructing the new houses for the victims and the fact that there is growing disaffection amongst the affected property owners who are of the view that the company is far from being committed to fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities.
Earlier, the Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources hailed Koidu Holdings for organizing the public disclosure, stating that the people of Kono District are in to benefit immensely from the expansion.
By Theophilus S. Gbenda
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