News

By Joseph Lamin Kamara

Head of the Local Tax Unit at Freetown City Council says the behaviour of government institutions in relation to local tax payment is slowing down the development of the city but also the country.

Thomas Patrick Kangoma told Politico that ministries and other public offices had been evading council tax for the past three to four years.

“What is most annoying is that our government ministries don’t pay their taxes at all,” said Kangoma, adding that “the only ministry that is compliant is the local government ministry.”

By Bampia James Bundu

Head of the Mabesseneh Hospital in Lunsar Town, Brother Michael Koroma has urged the health ministry to include the hospital into the health delivery system insisting it should be recognised.

He said the District Health Management Teams should also decentralise all catchment areas to the community hospital to ensure that it provided quality health service to the wider community.

By Allieu Sahid Tunkara

A local nurse at the Annointed Nursing Home centre in Freetown has expressed confidence in the Ebola fight after gaining training from the World Health Organisation.

“Initially, I was afraid to work in the Ebola treatment centres, but with this training, I have got much confidence to work in any treatment centre” Francis Edward Kamara said.

He said the training was very important and had come at the right time.

By Mustapha Kamara

Chief Immigration Officer, Alpha Kholifa Koroma says they will soon be issuing about 20,000 passports to  Sierra Leoneans who had applied over the last six month.

Speaking at press conference in Freetown, he said all those who would be issued with the citizenship identity documents were people who had been delayed due to a shortage which he said was as aresult of the department being at the implementation stage of its plans to move to a digitalised system. A switchover which he hoped would happen in January next year.

By Aminata Phidelia Allie

Director of Sierra Leone Prison Services, Sampha Bilo Kamara has disclosed that there has not been a single case of Ebola in all 17 correctional institutions across the country since the epidemic broke out in May.

He was speaking at the handling over ceremony of Ebola preventive materials from Prison Watch, a local non-governmental organisation in the country.

He said the prison service had been highly proactive to ensure that no case of the disease was recorded there.

French charity on the frontline of the Ebola outbreak has criticised UK’s decision to cancel the first direct flights to Sierra Leone after the British government revoked Gambia Bird’s recently granted permit to resume.

Médecins sans Frontières said if the government was going to stop commercial airlines flying to the region it would have to put in place state alternatives.

By Mohamed Massaquoi

Pujehun district council chairman has told an Ebola taskforce meeting that the health sector in the southern district has failed in the fight against the disease that has claimed over 900 lives across the country.

Sadiq Silla said: “health workers have not been working in the interest of the district...their major concern is incentives. They have completely forgotten about their responsibilities in the whole process and they lack discipline”, he claimed.