SLRA, THE BO CULVERT COLLAPSE AND THE CULTURE OF MAINTENANCE
When a culvert on the main road leading to Bo collapsed last weekend, it caused a major disruption to vehicular traffic on that very busy stretch of road. We praise the SLRA and some of the construction companies they worked with to reopen the road in a relatively short time. That was good job.
On that day social media went on overdrive, as usual. Even those who’ve not gone past Waterloo in rural Freetown were trying to argue about the exact location of the trouble and what actually happened. Was it a bridge that collapsed or a section of the road was washed off by rain? Anyway, the road is open again but we have some issues to put on the table.
1. We need the SLRA to come clean and tell us if they knew at any time that this section of the road was facing imminent collapse. They may have performed really well to do the road so quickly but we want to publicly clear them of any charge of criminal negligence. We warn them that we are ready to use the Right to Information process to clear this situation. So no jokes please!
2. If we eventually find out that SLRA people were warned of the danger, we will encourage those who missed their flights or those whose goods perished in those hours of disruption to go to court and seek huge compensation from the government.
3. SLRA should also tell us what guarantees they received from the original contractors who did that road and what they intend doing about that.
4. So are we now going to do a proper check on all possible trouble spots on our roads and bridges? Isn’t that the most sensible thing to do?
5. Finally, what was the cost of this emergency rehabilitation to the taxpayer?
WHY IS KAMARAINBA’S ADP NO LONGER ON THE BALLOT?
What’s going on with the Alliance Democratic Party of the media-loving Mohamed Kamarainba Mansaray? One bye-election after the other and the ADP is completely missing in action. The other point is, with the death of SALONE TRUMP, the nation is now left with Kamarainba who promised to rebuild our health care system and make it world class within two weeks of winning the last presidential election. We know America is a great country but even the feasibility studies to open their eyes to the wahala in our health system will take them more than six months. What was Kamarainba thinking?
The other day we spent about one hour listening to some of Kamarainba’s interviews from the day his APC subscription was rejected to the release of the results of the last general and presidential elections – very interesting stuff guys. Our job in the last month or so has been to compile the contradictions and use that to argue our point about what is wrong with Sierra Leone politics. We are also looking at other politicians, not just Kamarainba. But he was the guy who came here from the great America and vowed to uproot the two-party system that has been so dominant in Sierra Leone, and never to join any of them. He started backtracking as the 2018 result became clear. Now he has confined himself to making sporadic appearances here and there. Anyway we need Kamarainba to get in touch with us on the following issues before we conclude our work. Anyway brother Kamarainba can you give some details about the following issues? We promise to use the information you provide judiciously. Thanks.
1. Is that TASER case still taking place in Kailahun? If yes, is your defence team still the same? If the case is dead, please tell us whether it died with the removal of the Red Camp.
2. The last time we saw you, you were inspecting an unfinished building in a small corner of Bo just off the main road to Gondama. Is that where you live now or is that your retirement home?
3. Are you on speaking terms with your running mate in the 2018 election? We hear she is doing a good job in the North-west in the New Direction.
4. State House is about to shake things up in the government. That’s a fact! Are you considering working with the Green Camp? There’s no shame in that.
Yes we will write a few articles and then drop the matter. So you can ride out that storm knowing fully well that life in the opposition in Sierra Leone can be tough.
5. Are you back in the US to work on the Trump campaign? He may soon join you in the opposition. Hahahaha! Make Salone Great Again With Contradictions!
BANNING PLASTIC BAGS NOW MAKES A LOT OF SENSE
The whole world is taking action to limit the use of plastic bags and single-use plastic bottles because of the damage they cause to marine life and our environment in general, but our policy makers in Sierra Leone are refusing to take notice. We live in a country where only heavy political issues get people going like rogue MPs losing their parliamentary seats or going to the ECOWAS parliament which is tied to the certainty of getting huge per diem.
Our Mayor of the SUN who likes talking about Flood Mitigation measures like clearing gutters of huge mounds of debris to make way for the heavy deluge in the rainy season has not said anything serious about this plastic ban at all. We know that as a great lover of social media, she makes symbolic appearances at cleaning sites with TV cameras in tow, but how come she hasn’t noticed that all our drainages are blocked largely by plastic water sachets and single-use plastic bottles? Those who sell water and soft drinks in plastic containers have no respect for our environment. We don’t even know if any Environmental Impact Assessment study was done before they received their operational licenses. If so then is anybody monitoring that?
We absolutely cannot continue like this. Ban plastic bags and bottles from Sierra Leone NOW!
HOW DOES SACKING SAFFA ABDULAI ADVANCE SALONE FOOTBALL?
There is nobody with a modicum of knowledge of the issues around Sierra Leone football who didn’t know that the storm of vengeance blowing around football since the queen returned to Kingtom would blow away Lawyer Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai – the chairman of the Premier League Board. It was only a matter of time before the man who radically transformed our Premier League and brought thousands of fans to all our venues even on week days, was sacked for doing a good job.
Some of the greatest snitches in Sierra Leone football have been hard at work trying to throw Abdulai out of his position even before the league came to an end. They are the same people who went from one camp to the other creating confusion in the days leading up to the chaotic and highly controversial election of the queen. We have just thrown this out there to let the SLFA know we remain seized of this matter. We will go into some detail next time we touch the PLB thing.
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