WITH IDRIS ELBA IN THE VESSEL BONTHE SHALL SMILE
If all goes well Bonthe will soon change forever. Well that’s the hope of many Sierra Leoneans especially people from that neglected corner of this land that we love. The Principal, who is a son of that district, has signed a deal with a group called Sherbro Alliance with the actor Idris Elba leading, to develop Bonthe. This is the best news about Bonthe district for many years. We join the people of the district who are already celebrating. We wish them well but feel compelled to put the following on record.
1. No doubt Bonthe district has received a lot of attention in the last one year or so. From winning the Miss Sierra Leone contest to being proposed as the site for an IT college. We have seen the 3D impression of what the college would like when the job is complete. But we are waiting for the job to begin. We have no idea when the college will start admitting students.
2. We are waiting for the details of the Sherbro Alliance project. We have seen pictures of the signing ceremony and read a news item on the project. The devil, they say, is in the details.
3. Is Bonthe able to cope with the social-cultural pressure that will come with such development projects? What if the people wake up one morning to see thousands of workers of the Sherbro Alliance project in their backyard plus ancillary industries springing up to support the work, how will they deal with that? Somebody should start preparing them now.
4. How about those who will pour down there to buy land just to take advantage of the development coming through from the Sherbro Alliance? Dealing with such poor and deprived people will be easy for them. A few million Leones will be enough to get them acres of land. Let’s be careful
5. Surely, we are already saying too much about this project. But one final question we want to ask will be about the cost of the whole project on the tax payer. Please our debt burden without Sherbro is killing us. Think about that as we proceed. Good Luck Bonthe.
CLEANING DAY RETURNS AFTER CONTROVERSIAL WASSCE
Many Sierra Leoneans are just happy that this WASSCE thing is over for now. The people are fed up with ACC raiding homes all over Freetown chasing rogue teachers and pupils attempting to cheat their way to University. In fact now is the time to plan and take concrete action ahead of the next one. If any of the last problems resurface at the next exams we will hold the authorities responsible for taking us for granted. At that point we will have to call for this country to quit WAEC and the Freetown office closed down.
So back to the national cleaning exercise which suffered badly during the WASSCE thing. The rains are going away slowly but surely and our very bad drainage system is at breaking point.
We look forward to a very good cleaning exercise on Saturday not plenty pictures on social media calling attention to people doing nothing. And please, don’t throw rubbish all over the place at the end of the exercise. We shall be out and about monitoring the program.
DO TRADE UNIONISTS NOW HAVE THE POWER TO ARREST?
It seems Unionists are starting to brand themselves as law enforcers. The other day it was the Bike Riders that caught our attention. It was found out that they, Bike Riders Association (BRA) were arresting, detaining and levying fines on their members when traffic rules were infringed. We captured one of the moments at Lumley Car wash the other day with the Police post right beside the BRA Office.
Today, it is the traders Union wearing aprons but moving around confiscating wares of petty traders. One trader’s union personnel was seen confiscating wares of petty traders. The Union man also bragged that he had the power to arrest. When confronted by bystanders about the legitimacy of his work, he was arrogant and bragged that he will arrest the petty traders and take their wares to his Union office. Is that right Madam Mayor of the Sun? Yes
They should be seen protecting their members and not antagonizing them. They can work alongside the city council police but in the interest of their members.
There must be a person to sit these guys down and teach them their role as Unionists. The role of any union is to protect and advocate for its members and not the opposite. Please Madam Mayor of the Sun, please instruct the Traders Union guys to stop confiscating wares, it is not their job.
PLEASE MEET US IN CONAKRY
Well, Guinea is very close to the heart of Sierra Leoneans as a neighboring country than any other neighbor. Sierra Leoneans frequently visit Guinea because that country has become the center for business.
The road from the border town of Pamlap to Coyah is almost not motorable. The road is so bad; vehicles find it very difficult to get through. Big trucks and trailers sit on the road for days without being able to get through. A two hour ride to Conakry before this time has become a four to six hour ride if lucky. The only way to describe the road is to say “it is very bad”.
We are not sure what “Professor After-Me-Na-Me” is doing. The once very good road network in Guinea has all gone bad. It is not just the road from Pamlap to Coyah that is bad but almost the whole of the country. In Conakry there are very bad roads within the city. The worse thing is that there is no sign of road repairs or construction that will give commuters hope. There are rumors that the European Union and the African Development Bank have provided money to reconstruct that road but “Professor After-Me-Na-Me” is not even talking about that.
Conakry feels like one of the filthiest capital city in the sub region. Oh yes, that is so true. They have garbage containers in the city but few people are using them.
Lawlessness has also overwhelmed the authorities. It is like a free for all country. No one is listening to the authorities. We wonder how “Professor After-Me-Na-Me” is running the country
Anyway please meet us in Conakry.
© 2019 Politico Online
