Peter Bayuku Conteh, TOurism Minister
By Bampia James Bundu
Minister of tourism and cultural affairs, Peter Bayuku Conteh has warned politicians against adversely using their political affiliations with ongoing development activities in the country.
Conteh said much as he was grateful for his appointment as minister that did not make him take decisions based on political affiliations or treat issues with politically motivated intentions.
“I am not in this ministry to score political points. I am here to serve the people of this country. I am a development-oriented minister. Even if I serve here for one day, I want to make a mark and I want to do so diligently and to the best of my ability as a Sierra Leonean and a patriot”, he said.
He said the decision to stop the demolition of makeshift structures and bars along the Aberdeen to Lumley beach did not come from any other minister as was alleged.
“I take instructions from my boss [the President] and only him" he said, adding: "After we had a thorough consultation on the issue we decided to suspend the demolition to a later date”.
He said that the allegation about him being instructed by the Minister of Mineral Resources, Minkailu Mansaray, not to go ahead with the demolition was false, adding that Minkailu was not his boss nor was he his senior in cabinet and therefore he could not have taken any instructions from him on how to run his ministry.
“We all are ministers of government and it’s our responsibility to take full responsibility of our various ministries. I respect Mr. Minkailu Mansaray as a friend and elder and also respect him because he is the Deputy Chairman of the APC”, he said.
He called on politicians to put development first and politics last, as they could not use politics to decide how political development should be allocated to the average Sierra Leonean.
He finally warned owners of beach bars not to improve on the present status of their structures because there were possibilities that those structures could be demolished by next year.
APC Member of Parliament for Constituency 111, David Johnson, said the decision by the minister to demolish the beach bars was never communicated to him as the people’s representative in government.
“I should have been informed so that I can give adequate advice, but the minister cannot just ambush us like that”, he complained, adding that he had to call on the minister of mines when he heard the information about the proposed demolition.
“I had to contact the mines minister who then called the tourism minister to stop the demolition exercise”, he said.
Johnson appealed to the tourism minister to work in collaboration with the businesspeople and to see how best they could come up with a prototype that could be constructed by all beach bar owners.
(C) Politico 06/12/13
