Improving the Road Network: Today is Better Than Yesterday

Global warming, deforestation and other environmental challenges have been earmarked as factors responsible for the many natural or man-made disasters occurring in not just Sierra Leone, but also in many countries across the world. The road network in Sierra Leone had always been plagued with drainage problems, particularly in areas with mountainous and sloppy landscape that are prone to massive soil erosion. The situation has remarkably changed since the assumption of office of President Ernest Bai Koroma, who most Sierra Leoneans believe is God-sent.

In fact, the road infrastructure before the assumption of office of President Koroma was nothing to write home about as the belief was that Sierra Leoneans were destined to be continuously riding on pot-riddled and bumpy roads, the reason why we should be very much grateful to the astute and developmentally-oriented leadership of President Ernest Bai Koroma.

Moreover, in the area of infrastructural development among numerous other developmental programmes at hand, the Wilkinson Road dual carriage way is still under reconstruction, and when finally completed it could provide better and broader route for motorists of all types. It could also expand the economy to the advantage of all, irrespective of political, regional or tribal affiliations.

Actually, politicizing the challenges facing the construction of Wilkinson Road has exposed the unpatriotic and negative attitude of SLPP spinsters toward national development, and what should always be taken into consideration is that development does not know colour. Roads in the country, whether in the North, East, South and West, are for all Sierra Leoneans, and not for the exclusive use of the APC led government of President Koroma and his cabinet ministers.

The SLPP destructive opposition against this government could be best described as hate for Sierra Leone, because all what we are now seeing in terms of development are the failures of the SLPP which President Koroma has rapidly addressed and is still correcting with the fast-paced nature of developmental programmes across the board.

That is why SLPP operatives should not have sprang into opposing camps against the government simply because development is a question of the transformation of Sierra Leone and not a single political entity as the SLPP had led us to doom and economic stagnation throughout the last eleven years.

The New People Newspaper Online should be more forthcoming in discharging its role more constructively in its ceaselessly negative criticisms of this government.  Lamentably, it is the exact opposite as the editorial team can hardly distinguish between fact and opinion, which is why they hardly differentiate between news items and opinions.

However, I don’t want to bore myself with the unethical behavior of unpatriotic elements, and more especially the negative attitude of the main opposition SLPP towards nation building.

If at all we are to look into the accomplishments of the APC government led by the no-nonsense President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, the achievements in the area of infrastructural development are so much so that, President Koroma should be given more than a pat on the back for redeeming Sierra Leone from what the Political and Public Affairs Minister, Alhaji Alpha Kanu once referred to as “economic morass”, as roads formed one of the major pillars of sustainable socio-economic development of any country in the world.

  So, if SLPP operatives believe hoisting unnecessary deceit, lies and propaganda on the gullible people of this country was the way forward for the sustainable development of this nation, then it’s a serious problem.  Because the unnecessary rants of any main opposition should not be about minor floods that occurred at the Murray Town Junction, along Wilkinson Road. This is cheap opposition politics more especially when Maada Bio and his media goons are becoming desperate by every tick of the clock.

The fact that what happened at Wilkinson almost do occur everywhere in most parts of the world today, should encourage the New People to desist from causing noise about poor roads or flooding, because whatever manner or condition the roads are today, they are far worth driving on than what they were during the last eleven years.

So the SLPP cheap propaganda does not in any way hold water not to talk of it attracting public attention as a good number of the people of this country know that the New People is anxious to mislead them.

More significantly, infrastructural development is one of the solid foundations that have been laid by the APC led government of President Koroma for the socio-economic development of Sierra Leone more than ever before. Therefore, at a time when we as a nation are striving towards food-self sufficiency, we should not allow ourselves to be distracted by misguided people who are desperate to achieve nothing but their selfish desires.

The good thing is, the opposition SLPP’s unwarranted attacks on the ongoing development of the road network in the country under President’s Koroma’s leadership are as scanty as it can be. The question is did the editor of the New People deliberately hire stringers who could keep him breast with accurate and timely information on what is happening on the ground? Does sitting in the US fabricating fictitious stories to blackmail the best ever performing and hardworking APC government to the international world the best way to go? It is now clear that you can try in your best way to tarnish the good image of the government but you can’t bring it down, for we won’t let your dreams come true at all.

The roads leading to your so called towns and villages in the south-east have been all well paved from Kenema to Kailahun, a job that was done by the government that you people are trying to blackmail out of cheap political propaganda so as to secure favours from the electorate, which is why the author of the trash on The New People is calling on the people to vote President Koroma out of office. Sierra Leoneans are very grateful and this is the time they have resolved to pay it back to President Koroma through the ballot box rather what enemies of progress are preempting on the eve of the election. A clear indication of the fact that Sierra Leoneans have prepared themselves to indeed pay President Koroma for his good works is that responses from people whenever the Presidential motorcade is plying the streets of Freetown and in other parts of the country clearly tell us what is normally heard from cheering onlookers.

Sierra Leoneans are well aware of the progresses that have being made since President Koroma came to office. Many development projects have been commissioned by the government of President Koroma in towns, chiefdoms and districts all over the country. For example, trunk and feeder roads, community banks, agricultural business centers have been constructed to make life very easy for rural communities in Sierra Leone. So, The New People should not just look at Sierra Leoneans and think that they are still fools as they were in 1996 to 2002 when they mistakenly voted Kabba(h), who at the end deceived the people.

The people of this country have long being deprived of their basic social services under the self-centered SLPP regime of former president Tejan Kabba(h) who could not even give us an inch of a pave road not to talk effecting changes in any of the key sectors in governance.

Nevertheless, road network remains as one of the most supportive sectors to the economic reforms in Sierra Leone as socio-economic activities as well as the delivery of basic social services has in the last five years been facilitated through the provision of good road networks by the government of President Koroma under the Agenda for Change.

We all should be very much proud of the focused leadership that has been provided by the Koroma administration with the ongoing road construction and the re-branding of Sierra Leone, successfully linking districts and towns, including the Wilkinson road that you are lying about.

Among these are Masiaka-Bo, Bo-Kenema highways, the Makeni-Matotoka highway, the Rogberay-Pamlap highway, Tokeh – Lumley, and the Hill-Side Bye Pass Road. Among the long list of accomplishments is the 555km of feeder roads that was completed in 2010 by the hardworking government of President Koroma. Whatever you say or write now at your doomsday news outlet (The New People Newspaper Online), Sierra Leone’s roads are far better today than yesterday.

By Joseph Kamanda

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