Tonguma Ltd pays surface rent

In a bid to fulfill their terms and condition and the Company Act of Sierra Leone, one of the diamond mining companies operating in Tongo Field Lower Bambara chiefdom eastern province of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Tonguma project, under the Octea Diamond Mining Company in Tongo on Monday 2 September 2013 paid their surface rent of 50% to the land owning family in  Lower Bambara chiefdom in the total sum  of Le 237,187,500, 15% to the Kenema District Council in total sum of (Le 71,156,250, 15% to the paramount chief of Lower Bambara chiefdom Le 71,156,250, 10% to the Constituency Development Fund which was given to Hon. Francis A. Konuwa and Hon. Dr. Bernadette Lahai in total sum of Le47,437,500 and 10% to the Chiefdom Administration Lahai in total sum of Le47,437,500 for the period 2011 and 2012 and promises to pay in years to come.  (Photo: land owners receiving cheque)

In his welcome address, one of the section chiefs in the Lower Bambara Chiefdom chief Lahai S. Konuwa welcomed and thanked all for coming and said that the day is an important day for the people of Lower Bambara chiefdom as they are receiving their surface rent from the Tonguma project.

In his opening remarks the chairman of the occasion, Amido Mohai Jalloh, said Tonguma Limited is fulfilling their own terms today by paying their surface rent and admonished the land owning families to stop the illicit mining, more especially within the site of the Tonguma project.

The project manager of the Tonguma Project, Wessie Vander Westhezen, said that the issue of paying surface rent is not strange to them as a company because it is an obligation to mining companies operating in the country.  He called on the chiefdom people to be united as their operation will only be successful when there is unity in the chiefdom.

One of the representatives of the land owning family, chief Ngomeh, said the day marked a historical day for the people of Lower Bambara chiefdom as long before this time companies have been operating in the chiefdom but none of them have ever paid surface rent.  He added that Lower Bambara chiefdom was destroyed during the rebel war and that they were unhappy because of the condition of the chiefdom until the coming of Octea who are rehabilitating their roads; he called on the company to rehabilitate the hospital which was constructed by SLST so that it will benefit both staff of the company and the chiefdom people.

The chairman of Kenema District Council, Dr. Senesie Mansaray, said that the council is charged with the responsiblity of development for its locality but they will only do development with support from central government, donor partners, and home source revenue, and called on the people to pay their local taxes and property rates; he added that very soon the valuator of the council will come and value the Tonguma company.

The chiefdom speaker of Lower Bambara chiefdom, who represented the paramount chief, said he is happy for the management of the project for what they are doing in the chiefdom.  Chief Amara Lansana Gando reiterated that even the buildings the Tonguma Company is using were constructed by another company and he called on Tonguma Company to rehabilitate the hospital for the use of all in the chiefdom.

In his statement one of the parliamentarians of Lower Bambara chiefdom, Hon. Francis Amara Konuwa, said when the company was established in Tongo, they were in the house of parliament and they asked the company to do the hospital and that the company agreed to rehabilitate the hospital of which the first trench of money was given in a cheque of $5,000 equivalent to Le 30,000,000 but the money was not used by the chiefdom authorities for its intended purpose and that the balance was collected and paid the doctor and nurses of the Panguma Hospital.

Hon. Konuwa revealed the company has been supporting the chiefdom’s football team for 2½ years now and that the support goes directly to the club and not to individuals, adding that there is a cause for the low collection of the local tax and he called on the chairman of the Kenema District Council to come and meet with the chiefdom authorities to know the causes of low collection of local tax.

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