By Crispina Lois Cummings
Acting General Manager of Sierra Leone Housing Co-operation SALHOC, has told the Public Accounts Committee of parliament that their tenants at OAU Villa at Hill Station and 7th Battalion Estate at Goderich owe the corporation more than 4 billion leones.
Magnus Coker told the Committee which is currently looking into the findings of the Auditor General's report for 2012 that his corporation has been "surviving by God’s grace because he has not been able to pay staff for over four months.
Responding to suggestions from the Deputy Auditor General Tamba Momoh, who is assisting the PAC in their investigations that he was compromising his by keeping them for months without pay Acting Director Magnus Coker told the committee that he constantly explains the corporation’s predicament to the staff every week during meetings. The Deputy Auditor General told Coker to consider closing down the corporation.
The Deputy Chairman of the committee Hon. KombaKoedeyoma told the SALHOC manager that as far as he is concerned "the tenants at the OAU Villas and the low-cost housing estate are squatters because they have not paid their rents". He said strict measures should be taken for the corporation to get its money back.
The PAC deputy chairman said according to the published list of their debtors presented to the committee some people whose names appear on the list "will not pay". He said he felt sorry that the corporation was in such a bad situation and suggested that SALHOC should go to court so that their tenants would pay up.
(C) Politico 27/05/14
