50 Million Dollars Windfall
The World Bank has granted the sum of 50 Million Dollars to the Government of Sierra Leone to facilitate the Sierra Leone Integrated and Resilient Urban Mobility project.
The disclosure was made by Umaru Katta, Project Manager, Thursday 17th June 2021 at a press briefing at the Ministry of Information and Communication conference room, Youyi Building, Freetown.
The project which was approved by the Government through the Ministry of Transport and Aviation on the 13th June 2019 and became effective on the11th October 2019 is a five-year project which will be completed in June 2024.
In his submission, the Project Manager revealed that the project was targeting Freetown and the Western Rural district focusing mainly on decongesting key routes leading to the Central Business District of the capital city.
“The project aims at decongesting strategic routes leading to the Central Business District and modernize the system of transportation in the country”, said Mr Katta, adding that the direct beneficiaries were public transport operators, vehicle owners, drivers, “Keke” and commercial bike rides, market women, commuters (both drivers and pedestrians).
Mr Katta also pointed out some main development objectives, which included improving access to public transport, addressing Climate Resilience, improving road safety and Enhancing institutional and Human Capacity. He further mentioned three components in the implementation of the project namely; Modernization and Professionalization of Public Transport System, Strategic Resilience and Mobility Investment and Building Human and Institutional Capacity.
He also highlighted that the project has two phases, the West Corridor from Lumley to Big Market and the East Corridor from Eastern Police to Willington Market.
Though a welcome development to decongest mobility, many doubting Thomases are questioning the effective implementation of the project and the monitoring mechanism put in place.
Joseph F. Kanu
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