Information and Communications Ministry to launch fiber optic cable project tomorrow
His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma will formally launch the West Africa Regional Communication Infrastructure Programme (WARCIP), (ACE Submarine Cable Project), on Friday 2nd September, 2011. The ceremony which is scheduled to take place at the Fibre Optic Landing Station along Lumley Beach, Aberdeen will attract Government Ministers, Parliamentarians, Civil Society organizations and members of the National ICT Council.
The Programme will be chaired by Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, Minister of Information and Communications who in June last year signed the ACE Construction and Maintenance Agreement in Paris on behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone.
It could be recalled that Sierra Leone has in recent times made huge gains in Information and Communication Technology. Apart from the Freedom of Information Law awaiting parliamentary approval, the Government of Sierra Leone through the support of the World Bank is hard bent on landing the Fibre Optic Cable that will make communications efficient and affordable to all.
The Minister of Information and Communications whilst addressing Journalists at the weekly Press briefing said the Ministry has also signed a loan agreement with the Islamic Development Bank to develop the ECOWAS Regional Backbone Infrastructure and E-Governance Project (ECOWAN).
The ECOWAN Project according to the Minister costs twenty eight million dollars and will build a terrestrial infrastructure that would link Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. “This is to improve the communication system in the sub region” he said.
It could be recalled that the World Bank through the Government of Sierra Leone paid a resettlement assistance of sixty million Leones to six former squatters at the fibre optic Cable Landing Site.
This is a vivid demonstration of Government’s commitment towards improving the Telecommunications system in the country.
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