Someone to account for Le880 million
In the year 2008, precisely on ednesday 19 March, a cheque in the sum of eight hundred and eighty million leones was presented to President Koroma at State House.
A trading company going by the name Milestone Trading Limited made the donation to the government of Sierra Leone for the purpose of building an ultra modern market in Freetown to ease the problems of petty traders sprawled across the central business district of the capital.
While presenting the cheque to His Excellency, President Ernest Bai Koroma, the Chief Executive and President of the company, Nissim Ledy described the donation as a demonstration of their company’s corporate responsibility.
Present at the ceremony was then inister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Alimamy Petito Koroma and her deputy, Madam Mabinty Dararmy.
While receiving the cheque, President Koroma thanked the Milestones Trading Limited, noting that foreign investors have a role to improve the standard of living of ordinary Sierra Leoneans.
This was in 2008. We are now at three years from that date.
We are giving this background because we have laid hands on documents which showed that this amount was actually received from Milestones Trading Limited for the sole purpose of constructing a modern market for our city traders.
In our Friday 4th November 2011 edition, Sierra Express Media recalled the historic event which detailed the Minister of Trade then, Alimamy Koroma actually writing a ‘Thank You’ letter to the company.
The question this medium is obliged to ask is where is the ‘ultra modern’ market that has been constructed out of this money?
We are raising this question in light of the many promises this government has made to traders in this city, the bulk of who formed the backbone of the APC support in the Western Area.
If we have been overwhelmed by lawless street trading in the capital, with hawkers congesting every street corner, we are forced to ask the whereabouts of the new market.
We hope no one is going to tell us that the unfinished structures at Sewa Ground were constructed out of the Milestone money. As far as those structures are concerned we were told by the Freetown City Council that the Sewa Ground markets were erected from tax payers’ money and not from any donation.
Again, the question is where is the ultra modern market? If no market was constructed at all, which we believe no markets have so far been constructed from the Le880 million, then can we safely ask the whereabouts of the money, now that traders are badly in need of shelters.
Someone needs to account for that money or the market, either of the two.
The ball should be in the then minister’s court, Petito Koroma. Beyond that the President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma may have a word for his people in respect of that cheque or the proposed market.
We want to know about that money, three years on. The sooner the better.
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