Parliament Engages Badea Project Stakeholders
The Parliamentary Oversight Committee on technical and higher education has recently engaged authorities from the University of Sierra Leone (USL), contractors, the project manager and the Acting Director of Budget in the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on the status of the BADEA project at committee room 1 Parliament Building, Tower Hill, Freetown.
In his opening remarks the chairman of the committee Hon. A Kamara of constituency 028 Bo district stated that the process is not a witch-hunt but to ensure that the aims and objectives of the project are delivered. He said the committee has special interest on the BADEA project because of the outcry from concerned students and the public. According to him, he believed that at the end of the engagement students will soon go back to campus.
He maintained that the committee wants to know the status of disbursement to contractors and asked that the contractors explained the status of the laboratories, hostels, and also provide the scope of work for each building. He ended by informing the witnesses that the committee will not only listen to documentary presentation but also do on the spot check on project site for better understanding.
Presenting the status of the project to Honorable members, the BADEA project manager, Sorie Bambay Kanu said BADEA is the administrative financer and all finances are up to date. He continued that, most of the hotels are practically completed only awaiting furniture and BADEA for no objection.
He added that, most of the works at the project site are practically completed; he informed the committee that the administrative building is almost complete, the library, the lecture theater, school of architecture, the clinics, visiting staff quarter and ten staff houses among others are practically completed. He concluded by assuring members that he would do all he can to make sure that the project succeeds.
On his own side, the project contractor, Shaka Kakay, thanked the committee for their timely intervention. He said the project started in October 2016 with a lot of challenges. Kakay continued that had it not been the intervention of the former president, accessing of the site would have been a serious problem where they could have spent ten months. He said they faced a lot of financial challenges after the signing of the contract especially with the banks. He went further that going through the toll roads; GST charges, delay payment and frequent theft of materials on site also affect the progress of the project.
He concluded by appealing to the committee to help the project be on the right path.
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