Sierra Leone’s Transport and Aviation sector in accelerating country’s Drive to Economic turnaround
Sierra Leone continues to make tremendous progress in her economic and infrastructure drives. Elected into office in 2007, President Ernest Bai Koroma, during his first term in office, administered the affairs of state through an Agenda for Change. This blueprint for national development concentrated the country’s resources in fixing the infrastructure, health, education, and energy, amongst others determinant factors for steady country growth.
In 2012,President Ernest Bai Koroma was reelected, following a commitment to deliver more, through an Agenda for Prosperity, another document with prospects of making Sierra Leone a middle income national by 2035.
Achieving the laudable dream of a middle income nation by 2035 demands the active participation of a sector like Transport and Aviation. This is especially so as the country, through the Ministry of Transport and Aviation is pursuing three major development drives (Railway, Deep Sea Port and New Airport), all expected to successfully take Sierra Leone to an economically prosperous nation.
The Minister in charge of Transport and Aviation, Leonard Balogun Koroma (in photo) arrived in China on the 16th of September China as part of Government’s commitment to develop the country’s Port and Railway. During an interview, Minister Koroma sounded optimistic for Sierra Leone’s development, given current happenings in the country. In his view, Sierra Leone is at present, on the path to laudable economic growth.
First, he was asked to elaborate on his trip to the People’s Republic of China:
I am in the People’s Republic of China on the invitation of China Kingho Energy Group, a major 500 fortune company in China with extensive investment in the energy sector. Early this year, the China Kingho Energy Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Sierra Leone, specifically with the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources and the Attorney- General for the purposes of making investment in Sierra Leone to the tune of about 6 billion dollars. That sounds a huge amount of money and rightly so, because of the two big projects that they want to undertake in Sierra Leone. The first project is a Deep Sea Port and an Industrial Park with a total investment of about 3.5 billion dollars. The second investment is a 250 km railway from Tonkolili district to the proposed port site at Sulima; a dedicated railway line that will transport our iron ore that is being mined in Tonkolili to the Deep Sea Port at Sulima for shipment. So I came specifically to sign MOU on those components under the direct purview of my ministry and that is the Rail and Port component.
How economically viable will this latest MOU be to Sierra Leone’s growth?
The original MOU that was signed with Government of Sierra Leone early this year was a general one encompassing several areas of investments; the mining sector, the Port and Rail, etc. This one that I signed is a supplementary one that came from the original and general MOU. This one addresses the components that fall under the direct purview of my ministry; the Port and Rail components. Specifically, the manner in which our iron ore is being transported at the moment is rather outdated. Take London Mining for example; from the mines, the ore is being transported by trucks .Some of these trucks are not specifically designed for that purpose. This is bulk cargo and it is heavy. And then, when they get to the loading point, they are loaded unto barges and then moved downstream unto the Sierra Leone River and then eventually transferred to the iron ore vessels. And because we lack a Deep Sea Port, we can only accommodate vessels that have the capacity of between 60 to 80 thousand tons, as against vessels that can take between 120 to 180 thousand tons of iron ore. If we continue to export our iron ore from the Marampa Mines this way, it will probably take another 100 years. For African Minerals, the Iron Ore is also transported by rail to Pepel which also is not a Deep Sea port and also cannot accommodate the large bulk vessels. This slows down the process and until we have a Deep Sea Port that can accommodate these large size vessels, we won’t get the corresponding revenue from these mineral resources; thus the need for Deep Sea port. The 250 km railway to be designed, to transport the iron ore deposit to the Deep Sea Port at Sulima will enhance our export and maximize revenue for government. This will increase the developmental pace of Government.
Is there any time frame for the completion of these projects?
The railway can take between two to three years to build. The Deep Sea Port will probably take an equal length of time. At this stage we are still at the phase of feasibility studies on the railway and port components. Then we go to the design stage and from where, we go into concluding the agreement, contracts and construction.
You also met with China Railway International Group regarding the new airport at Mamamah, in the Port Loko district. What is the latest with this project?
Sierra Leoneans are enthusiastic about the new airport. Recently I led a group of five cabinet Ministers and seven deputies to Mamamah, the airport site location. Everybody is looking forward to the new airport. I had a meeting with China Railway International, the contractors for the building of the new airport. They have given assurances that this is a priority project of theirs and they will go all out in collaboration with my ministry, the Sierra Leone Embassy here in Beijing to ensure the project is on track. The construction period is four years. President Koroma recently made a pronouncement to the effect to see the commencement of the project by the end of the year, latest by the beginning of 2014.Our energies are directed to achieving that goal.
But what about funding?
We are almost there, with China EXIM Bank, in providing a loan of about 312 million dollars for the construction of the new airport. From our meeting with China Railway International, they have told us about hurdles to be cleared and once that is done, the first tranche of the loan will be released for the commencement of the construction.
Why a new airport?
We must count ourselves lucky that since independence, there has not been any major disaster in the current airport. Any country worth its salt must have at least two airports. What happens if there is an emergency? Secondly access to the present airport is not that easy . It takes you about two hours from Accra to Lungi. And to get to Freetown it takes you twice that time. This is not good. We have to thank President Koroma for his vision and determination for us to undertake this project at this crucial time when the country’s growth rate is the envy of the world.
There is the issue of public transportation which appears to be a challenge for Sierra Leoneans. What is the ministry doing to address this challenge?
The Sierra Leone Roads Transport Corporation is responsible for the provision of public transportation at affordable cost. At the moment, the performance of the Sierra Leone Roads Transport Corporation is nothing good to write about. Maybe there are more buses in the compound for want of spare parts. I inherited that situation but that does not mean I am running away from the problem. We have to address it. I have been in discussion with the Ambassador here in China and we are looking at negotiations and arrangement for the purchase of 200 buses mainly with private sector participation. We are going to pursue those negotiations so that if we could purchase more buses, it could make a difference.
How supportive has the President been to your ministry?
Indeed. And let me use this interview again to thank him for my appointment. For me, it is a vote of confidence for my performance. The Ministry is pivotal to the success of the Agenda for prosperity because of three major components under it; transportation by land, sea and air and this will see the construction of a new airport and also the construction of an industrial city at Lungi. This will include rehabilitation of domestic airfares, starting with Hastings. There is the Deep sea port component, which will also include an extension of the existing port to address congestion. There is also the railway component that will see the introduction of light rail in Freetown and national railway lines. So I have been enjoying the job and I have been getting the support of the presidency. I have a clear vision of what I want to do and if I am able to undertake successful these projects under the airport, port and railway components, Sierra Leone will be on track to economic success.
But how have you been managing your time, in terms of meeting your ministerial duties as well as party functions as Coordinator for Elections for the governing APC?
I am a workaholic. I spend, on a typical day, 12 to 14 hours in the office. I share my time amongst my family, official work which takes most of my time and church. I enjoy doing that and it has been like that for a while. I enjoy doing my party work especially in coordinating election matters. I have been head of the Electoral Commission as Secretary to the Electoral Commission and Chief Elections Officer from 1990 to 1992. I have also been a Returning Officer for several districts elections and I have also conducted elections in several parts of the country. I have a combination of political and administrative experience and that is what is what is giving me a better understanding of my role and job.
Thank you Mr. Minister
Thank you.
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