INDUSTRIAL ZONE TO CHANGE SALONE
A project that will completely change the game in a quiet corner of Sierra Leone and indeed the whole country is just getting underway. When Principal recently launched the ARISE IIP Industrial Zone project, he told the people in that part of sleepy Songo that the zone would create NINE THOUSAND direct jobs and FIVE THOUSAND other kinds of jobs that would spring up around the facility. Impressive!
We have to note that outside the mining sector, this would simply be ranked as the biggest provider of jobs in the private sector. And we are also extremely impressed with the timeline for the implementation of the first phase of the project. Principal told people of that area a lot about this opportunity brought to their doorsteps with a big package of support to transform their communities. He also mentioned a few things that we want to now put on record in this edition.
1. This is not just about benefiting from the company; it’s also about protecting the company against harassment by local politicians and from ordinary criminals who would see the company as a free for all enterprise. Their assets are not there to be stolen by local armed robbers. They will enjoy the full protection of the government.
2. The local people would receive preferential consideration for jobs but they must train themselves for those jobs. Otherwise, people with the requisite qualifications from other parts of the country or even abroad would be free to come in and work.
3. Foreigners are coming to live and work there with our own people. The work culture is not the same. We have to say the truth that we do not respect work in this country. The investors are not going to have people around just because of politics. They are investing a lot of money and they want returns – significant revenues. So it's either our people work hard or they get sacked.
POLICE SILENT ON BOYKA’S KILLING. WHY?
We know that many police officers were killed during the civil war in this country. In January 1999 in particular, rebel forces that managed to enter Freetown systematically attacked and killed police officers at their barracks at Kissy and other places. As recent as last year, six police officers were killed by misguided rioters. Some of those officers were unarmed and doing their normal jobs of protecting lives and properties. Just when we thought we were beginning the healing process once again came the killing of a police commander in King Messi’s fortress city of Makeni.
The late man’s colleagues are investigating but we should state from the outset that we have never experienced this kind of thing in this country – a police officer of any rank being hunted down and killed on the streets of any of our cities by people we call unidentified.
We have heard a lot about why this happened and in Makeni in particular but we are refusing to include those bits and pieces here for now because in journalism, stories must always be made to stand up especially in a court of law. So we are holding back. We don’t know for how much longer because the police have gone completely quiet on that matter.
Be that as it may, we feel compelled to say the following:
1. The well of national cohesion was deliberately poisoned immediately after the 2018 elections. There are many ordinary people in that city that have been made to believe that they were in an existential struggle with the government in Freetown. Those who did that are wicked. All they want is to advance their political interests. Again, we are waiting for the investigations to conclude but the atmosphere of suspicion in that city is not good for national cohesion.
2. The police have no option but to find the killers of the OSD commander. If they need international help for that, let them ask for it because we are not the first country to do so. If we don’t expose and bang the killer and his sponsors up for a very long time, then we should all surrender to the start of urban terrorism in Sierra Leone. It’s as serious as that.
3. The next step should be to deal with those who are spending a lot of money and time to keep the vulnerable people of Makeni angry all the time. They have to be told that their strategy is wrong and there would be consequences when lives are lost as a direct result of their political manipulation of those ordinary people.
4. We need voices of balance and moderation in Makeni to STAND UP to this challenge. What happened in that city is very bad. Why are they so scared to speak up? Many Sierra Leoneans are now very scared to go down to that city. That’s not a good thing.
STOP DESTROYING CAMPAIGN POSTERS IN FREETOWN
We are happy that people are now facing the law for destroying campaign posters in Freetown in particular. We have seen such posters along the major streets and our sources are telling us that it’s happening in other parts of the country but we can’t really understand why dark forces are busy destroying these expensive campaign posters. Driving between Youyi Building, Brookfields and Congo Cross the other day, we counted almost two dozen posters belonging to the ruling party candidates systematically destroyed. Next day we counted an almost equal number of posters belonging to the main opposition party candidates damaged between Jomo Kenyatta Road and Hill-Cot Junction on the road to Wilberforce. What is all this about?
Why are people so intolerant? These posters are only there to introduce the main candidates to people and so put the nation in the mood for the coming elections but they do not necessarily swing votes one way or the other in real terms. Besides, the posters are expensive. That explains why only the two main parties that have had a taste of government are able to pay for or get their friends to pay for and erect such posters. We see a few from independent candidates but in terms of prominence, they are no match to the big guys.
The police should make more arrests and speedily prosecute more of those caught in this disgraceful act and widely publicize their imprisonment to deter others. Sierra Leone has been through FIVE such elections since the civil war ended so we should have gone beyond this crude kind of campaigning. Enough is enough!
IS CAMPBELL STREET NOW A PARKING LOT?
Campbell Street on the west side of Freetown is one of the main arteries linking the west to the Central Business District. There is something disturbing along that road that we want to bring to light here. Campbell Street is now being used as a car and kekeh park.
In years past, the street was free of parked cars on both sides as a result pedestrians and motorists used the street and went about their business quietly without any hassle. The sidewalks were also for pedestrians and those on bicycles. There was enough space to walk without thinking about a car hitting you from the back.
Recently, Campbell Street has become a park for private as well as commercial vehicles. This act is greatly affecting the movement of people and vehicles. From Monday to Saturday the street is jam-packed with kekehs and cars on both sides of the street causing a lot of traffic considering the fact that this is a two-way road.
Is it right for such lawlessness to continue, considering how important that street is for citizens of the country? Something needs to be done so that the street will regain its lost purpose because Campbell Street is being misused.
As a consequence of such practices, one may be forced to think that the name of our capital city “Freetown” is affecting the actions of its people.
If our city is to be transformed then we need to ensure that what is right is done and we do not bend the rules to do the things we know are bad. Campbell Street should look and feel like it once was and Freetown needs a good transformation in order to attract visitors and make the citizens feel good about their city.
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