Corruption and frustration at Queen Elizabeth II Quay (Water Quay)

Dear Mr President, as Sierra Leoneans we respect the choice the people made in choosing you as president for another 5 years and also appreciate the work you have done so far in the development of our country that we all love. But there is a still lot of work to be done to attract investors and stamp out corruption in the private and public establishments.  (Photo: Alphonso-Williams. author)

My first point concerns the problems people encounter at Water Quay when goods are shipped into the country. The corruption at the quay is so blatant and these people do not care who they are doing it to, so when goods are there the importer is at the mercy of the personnel. For e.g. when a vehicle is shipped, the procedure to get it out is very time consuming, tiring and frustrating. You have to go from one office to another just to get documents signed and this normally involves bribe, if not your documents will be delayed.

Staff who sign documents ask for as little as Le10,000 from each person before appending his signature on these documents and this is done in the open and on a daily basis. Why should it take 3 to 4 days just to get a vehicle out of the port?

When it comes to the bill of lading, they charge between Le50 – 100,000 claiming that the receiver’s address is not on the bill of lading, even though they know very well that shippers do not put addresses on a bill of lading but on the envelope that is being delivered to the recipient. No explanation is accepted for this and they will just dismiss you and waste your time. Every day a vehicle spends at the quay you are charged for and this can run into hundreds of Leones.

The method of valuating vehicles is a concern to me. When an old vehicle is brought in they are charged less for import duties and tax but for a new car the charges are higher. I suggest the authorities reconsider. This system encourages people to buy and ship old cars into the country which causes pollution. This is why we have so many abandoned vehicles all over the city.

Sierra Leone is one of the few countries in Africa that still operates under such system. By reducing the tax on new cars and increasing the tax on old cars, this would encourage people to buy newer and decent vehicles and have a carbon free atmosphere.

Now to the Police officers at the junction outside the water quay. As soon as a vehicle leaves the quay after being cleared, it is stopped by these officers asking for licence and registration documents and accusing the person of driving an unlicensed vehicle. How can they expect someone to register or licence a vehicle when there are no facilities at the quay to perform these duties. SLRTC has not provided an office or personnel at the quay to carry out this function; therefore one would first of all have to drive the vehicle to your house as most times people do not leave the quay until after 4.30pm. Not everyone that ships vehicles to Sierra Leone is a registered car dealer with a garage plate which allows you to drive your vehicle unregistered. Sometimes people ship vehicles to Sierra Leone for their own personal use and not for sale. One will end up paying these officers before your vehicle is released and if you do not get one of the officers to escort you to your destination you will be stopped again at Clock Tower. Again you are subjected to a bribe and the same thing carries on until you reach your destination.

Flights and shipping to Sierra Leone

Mr President, one still wonders why we have to still pay sky rocketing prices for flying to and shipping goods to Sierra Leone. We all know that the excuse used is because it is a high risk country, but that was during the war which ended more than 10 years ago. We have had two peaceful, transparent and non violent elections and with a very good human right record, thanks to you.

When one wants to ship a vehicle to Sierra Leone from Europe we pay more than Guinea, Liberia, Ghana, Gambia and Nigeria. The only country in Africa that is more expensive than Sierra Leone is Somalia which we all know is at war. It costs up to £2000 or more for shipment and all other charges for vehicles shipped into Sierra Leone.

Also flights to Sierra Leone are so expensive, even at off peak times. The cheapest ticket one will get from Europe is £700 whereas one can pay £300 to the Gambia which has the same flying time. During the Christmas holidays the cheapest economy ticket is £995.00 and the most expensive is £1245.00. It is even more expensive when flying from America or Canada.

Mr President this does not augur well or in line with your agenda for change/prosperity. This is discouraging investors and tourism. This also makes goods and commodities very expensive in the open market. We should not just rely on the beauty of our country and think that because of our beautiful beaches and landscape tourists will flock there, as there are other countries with beautiful beaches, better hotels, stable and proper electricity supply, better water supply of all amenities and a better customer service and one can get a 7 nights stay inclusive of breakfast and lunch for less than £700.

Mr President, this is the time to act, we are tired of being ripped off and being taken for a fools.

Alphonso Williams, United Kingdom

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