Speech of HE President Ernest Bai Koroma at the opening of Kenema Shopping Plaza in Sierra Leone

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY HE DR ERNEST BAI KOROMA AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE KENEMA SHOPPING PLAZA AND THE DECLARATION OF THE NASSIT  TENTH YEAR ANNIVERSARY IN KENEMA ON FRIDAY 30^THAUGUST 2012.  Photo: HE President Ernest Bai Koroma delivering his keynote address)

Mr. Chairman

Ag Mayor of Kenema City Council

Chairman, Kenema District Council

Cabinet Ministers

Honourable Members of Parliament

Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps

Councilors of the Kenema City and District Councils

Traditional Leaders Religious Leaders

Distinguished ladies and Gentlemen

I am honored to be here this morning to the official opening of the Kenema shopping Plaza.  Kenema is a great city and a great city deserves a great shopping plaza.  A great city needs modern roads both within the city itself and on highways leading to other towns and cities.  This is why my government invested time, resources and energy in constructing the roads within the city; that is why my government constructed the road from Kenema to Bo and Freetown, that is why my government is constructing the road from this city to Segbwema,  Pendembu and Kailahun.

A great city needs access to healthcare for its mothers, its pregnant women and children, a great city needs medical stores, and a great city needs to have its own sons as ministers.  My government has ensured all these for the great city of Kenema.

My government is one of national service; when we build roads, we build them everywhere, when we rehabilitate hospitals, we do that everywhere, irrespective of which party claims it as their stronghold.  For us, our stronghold is where we construct strong buildings, it is where we construct good roads, it is where when we say a town has become a city we do not just change the status on a piece of paper, we do things that make everybody say this place is indeed a city.

We have transferred billions of leones to the Kenema city and district councils to develop Kenema.  This is more than any government has transferred to this great district.  We gave the Kenema District 300 million leones to build drying floors, shelter houses and procure rice haulers, 350 million leones to build market facilities at Bendu Junction in Nongowa Chiefdom, and hundreds of millions more to build market facilities, classrooms and community centres.  We gave the Kenema City Council almost 600 million leones to construct the market at Koker-Jah Street and Humuya Avenue; 250 million leones to construct two other markets, over three hundred million leones to construct the fire force fence, over 128 million to construct a maternal health post and we are transferring over 2.3 billion for the completion of the Kenema City Hall.  We have given billions to the city and district councils to develop this great district, far more than what was given by previous governments.  We have added unto the electricity supply from 4.2 megawatts to 6.4, we have built agricultural business centres all over the district and region, we are providing hundreds of millions for the rehabilitation of Bunumbu, and we are improving the condition of service of lecturers here at the Eastern Polytechnic.  We increased the salaries of MPs, including the ones from this district and provided tens of millions of Leones to them to support development of their constituencies.  We are committed to doing more; we are a government of action.

And we know that people of this city, this district and this region are grateful.  This city is center of religion in this country; I see great mosques and churches in this city and district, and we know that these religions teach gratitude and appreciation.  Kenema is our stronghold because we have done great things here; the Eastern Region is our stronghold, the whole of Sierra Leone is our stronghold because we are transforming all districts in the country.

This shopping plaza built by NASSIT is an example of this transformation.  I have been associated with NASSIT since its conceptualization and served as Chairman of the Interim Establishment Board appointed for the setting up of the organization.  The law which established NASSIT was very clear on its mandate-that is to pay retirement and other benefits to members and their dependents.  This function they have discharged and continue to discharge diligently.  As a Trust you should not lose sight of this role.  Pensions, the world over are replacements of one’s lost income.  Having labored throughout one’s productive years, one should go into retirement with honour and dignity. That is why our government has ensured increases in provisions paid out to pensioners, and we shall continue to ensure these increases.

Mr. Chairman, going back to the NASSIT Act, it is not all the NASSIT funds that are used in the payment of current pensions.  Monies that are not used are supposed to be invested.  Today, I am her to commission one of such investments.  The construction of this shopping plaza will not only be creating job opportunities for Sierra Leoneans but will add to the aesthetics of the Kenema City.  The Kenema City, is the first to have this ultra modern one stop shopping centre in the country.

Let me at this point thank all those who in diverse ways contributed in the realization of this noble venture.  I applaud the cooperation between NASSIT and the City Council, I applaud the architects, the contractor, the workmen and women and even the cookery seller whose skills ensured that the workmen and ordinary labourers had good meals while working on this most beautiful building.

Mr. Chairman distinguished ladies and gentlemen, it is my singular honor to declare the Kenema Shopping Plaza open and to also officially launch the 10^th Anniversary Celebrations of NASSIT.

May God Almighty Bless us all.

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