WHERE ARE WE NOW ON THE BO AIRPORT PROJECT MINISTER KABINEH?
The Ministry of Transport and Aviation and the Civil Aviation Authority committed themselves to having an open dialogue with the people behind the proposed Bo Airport project several weeks back. The Bo airport people accepted that posture with open hands but we know that no such meeting has taken place since then. We started with the ministry and the CAA telling us the Bo airport project was a complete fake. We then produced documents to show that at least; the ministry of transport has had some engagement with the project, exchanging some letters.
So we ask again: what’s the latest with that project? The other day we visited the project site and saw some semblance of something being done but there was zero momentum, indicating the seriousness of the proposed project and we understand why. There’s really no point pressing ahead with such a capital intensive project without the necessary paperwork especially after the recent public slanging match over the legality of that business enterprise.
We want to announce once again that we have received another batch of documents that we are planning to share with our readers in the coming weeks about the company behind the airport and their overall business intentions in this country. We have also been informed that those documents have since been forwarded to the ministry and the CAA but perhaps, as expected, they have not even acknowledged receipt. We won’t even go into talking about whether a meeting is planned any time soon. Let’s say the following:
1. We are always talking about attracting foreign investors and creating jobs but here is something that these government agencies should be paying serious attention to. It’s not enough or right to describe the project as fake before engaging them in substantial conversations.
2. What is so difficult about replying to letters sent several weeks ago and telling people what your position is on their proposals? This unnecessary delay is causing serious problems in Bo. There are contractors and workers there who have lost jobs because of all this uncertainty. No investor will continue pumping money into a project that is stuck in such bureaucracy.
3. We understand the Chief Minister intervened when those acrimonious exchanges started in the media several weeks back. From the look of things he may have to intervene again because the investor on the one hand and the CAA backed by the ministry on the other are heading to another round soon. That is not good for the investment climate.
SO WHAT WAS ALL THE SHOUTING ABOUT IN KAILAHUN?
Did it really have to take chaos and street demonstrations in Kailahun to whip our ruling party people into organizing a clean and acceptable contest for the women’s wing of their party? The Green Movement has all the right to celebrate this final outcome but why did they wait for their democratic credentials to hit such a low before acting? This is what we take from the power struggle.
1. The party secretariat that was supposed to conduct all these internal elections has just been told they were not fit for purpose and should stay away. We find it really strange that compiling the list of voters was such a mountain to climb. That’s ridiculous. The whole struggle came about because they tried to help a particular candidate. When will these people learn their lessons?
2. We don’t want to prejudice anybody but some people in that secretariat are still running for party positions in the next two weeks, should they be allowed to run? Or even if they managed to get their names on the ballot paper, should anybody vote for them? The whole party knows they are completely unable to manage their biases. Why vote for them?
3. Let’s say they manage to hang on to their positions, and those they tried to prevent from winning end up being elected, how would they work in that executive? They call them uneasy bedfellows. Is that what the ruling party wants right now? We are sure they know that objects in the mirror are closer than they appear. In this case, those objects are collectively called THE OPPOSITION.
IS THAT FUGITIVE TOLONGBO COUNCILOR IN LUNGI STILL RUNNING?
We will soon ask NEC to prepare for another bye-election, this time in Lungi because that fugitive SOLAR PANEL Lungi councilor has still not turned himself in to the Sovula boys. They declared him a WANTED man months ago and suggested he might be in Cyprus with his wife.
We have no idea how long he intends to continue hiding from the law. We also don’t know how much effort Sovula boys are making to arrest him. The allegation is that the Tolongbo Councilor confessed to the Paramount Chief of Kaffu Bullom that he obtained some solar batteries and panels stolen from the people of Lungi. Why he waited until the people invoked mystical powers to defeat the criminal activities even the Sovula boys failed to successfully tackle to report himself to the chief, is a question only he can answer.
This is the worst position anybody with some political authority like a councilor should be in. For months EDSA complained about their solar installations being stolen particularly in that place, the councilor knew about all that but continued to serve the council as if things were normal.
We need some update now from the Sovula boys as to how far they’ve gone with their attempt to extradite him and put him before a judge. On our part we will provide maximum coverage for that trial so our people get the gory details of how things happened in the airport town regarding those THIRTY-FIVE solar panels and batteries.
Our sources are telling us that the guy may still be somewhere in Leon. We have very good sources on the ground in Lungi but we will have to check this out in the normal way
OKADA BOYS WITH PEPPER SPRAY: THE NEW DANGER
We witnessed a very strange situation along Campbell Street not too long ago between an OKADA man and two police officers. In fact there was a third party – a private car owner whose vehicle was hit by the Okada man who was riding like he was leading the Paris-Dakar rally. The private car owner had managed to stop the Okada man from fleeing after his car was hit.
The Okada man tried in vain to organize a quick settlement because the car owner was not keen on doing a quick deal. In the process he called two police officers who were on some kind of beat patrol and asked them to handle the case.
The police officers then arrested the Okada man for something other than the crash. It turned out that the Okada man had deployed pepper spray against two other officers at the junction of Campbell Street with Pademba road and fled the scene. In fact the two officers called over by the car owner were on the lookout for this PERPER SPRAY Okada man. He had disguised himself by simply removing his coat. The police officers searched his bag and found the coat he was wearing at the time he deployed the pepper spray. At this point it became what we know in Freetown as TWO TROUBLE, ONE GOD.
We can’t confirm this but some friends told us later that the Okada man managed to escape leaving his bike in the hands of the police while the car owner turned to the police again telling them they MUST get the fugitive to fix his vehicle.
So now, our real issue after the drama is to highlight how dangerous OKADA taxis have become. If they can do that to police officers in broad daylight what stops them from taking advantage of ordinary people? We must protect public servants as they go about doing their work.
And about this pepper spray thing: KKY was dragged to court by King Messi because one of his guards had pepper spray. What is an OKADA man doing with it?
On the side of the police, if the report we got that the guy escaped is true, those officers must explain. That bike is owned by somebody. We want to know the status of this issue now.
Copyright © Politico Online 03/12/21
