OPERATION BEGINS AT NEW LUNGI AIRPORT
The first flights have already taken off from the new airport at Lungi. We are told the old one will be closed until the authorities think about what to do with it. We shall also be making a few suggestions in that direction as time goes on.
We didn’t want to step into this unnecessarily toxic argument about what we know to be a new airport being an EXTENSION of the old. This is what happens when everything is considered in terms of politics and opposition people straining every sinew to land punches on the ruling party. We just want to make this quick point. Given that the old airport is going to be closed, what sense does it make to still argue that what we call the new airport is a mere EXTENSION? How does one make an extension to a house and then close the main structure and move one's family to live in the extension? Extensions are normally done to support the old structure – sometimes to create a few more rooms and other facilities.
This is definitely a new airport.
Anyway, a new airport should come with a new way of doing things. We want a new attitude from the workers. Those who don’t treat their work as something serious will be sacked. A private company is running the place and they are not into political correctness. They will sack people who under-perform.
We call on Summa Group to NEVER allow beggars and potential thieves to hang around the place offering to push a trolley for a few Leones. These guys should respect themselves. We are not the poorest country in the world. This idea that the airport is their normal place for survival is wrong and we should let them know that.
PROVIDENCE SCHOOL PLEASE CLEAR THIS ROAD
We want to respectfully ask the SLRSA if their SAFETY CORPS are only on the streets to issue tickets for minor traffic offences and sometimes collect pennies from keke and okada boys. We ask because we cannot understand why they are not doing anything about the many vehicles abandoned on our streets. Some of these vehicles have been left on the street for months, even years.
Why can’t SLRSA clear them from our streets and force the owners to pay for that disposal service?
This is a picture of a bus owned by Providence School. One of our readers sent us this photo and complained that this vehicle has been abandoned in this position for months. We really cannot give an ultimatum to the SLRSA but we want to ask them to urge Providence school to move this wreck immediately. Hillside by-pass road is not a garage. There’s provision for brief parking but there is no provision for a scrapyard on that road. We will keep an eye on this from now on.
INDEPENDENT MPs ARE FALLING ONE AFTER THE OTHER
Two independent MPs have thrown their support behind the re-election of Principal. In fact, Shiaka Sama of Pujehun and Quinton Salia Konneh in Kailahun are already going around the country with the big man. There’s still one more to go. There’s still Hon. Lolo Tongi in the far corner but she too looks like going the green way. In a few weeks from now Principal will dissolve parliament and our MPs will return to their people to campaign for votes. We suspect that some of them will be received with insults and jeers because they abandoned their people during their parliamentary tenure.
The independents are also waiting for firm assurances from the leadership of the Green Movement that their names will be on the list before they can put on the Green T-shirt. The outcome of the NAC meeting in Kambia should now give a clear indication what the position is for people in this returnee category. All they have is the example they set in 2023. They challenged the dominant party in their area and won. Things have changed significantly now so it’s not much use hanging on to 2018 right now.
Politicians and some civil society actors are complaining about the 11.9% threshold to reach parliament but by the look of things there will be no change because the seats in parliament will increase dramatically. Some MPs would be asked to bring their own chairs to conduct the business of the House.
The three returnees have realized that the threshold is high so they need the party machinery behind them. They have powerful enemies in the district party doing everything to stop them. The game is on.
FRANTIC ACTIVITY IN THE POLITICAL TRANSFER WINDOW
We just reported that the three independent MPs will soon put on the Green Polo of the ruling party. They are waiting for parliament to close and by that time they would have received guarantees from the leadership of the Green Movement that they will be put on the PR list in the respective districts.
Apart from these MPs, we are reading daily about other opposition stalwarts handing themselves over to the ruling party. On the face of it things are not looking good for the main opposition but we believe the Green guys should approach these declarations with a bit of caution for the following reasons. They can choose to ignore us. We are used to that.
1. There’s a good chance that some of these people running into the ruling party now are being planted by opponents. In other words they are not genuine. Rushing to open all the doors to them might prove counter-productive.
2. The Green guys may end up alienating their core supporters who may complain about being neglected in favor of the returnees. We are hearing some of this already.
3. The returnees may end up becoming a burden on the Principal if he returns to State House because they will be looking for jobs and contracts. Where are those goodies coming from?
4. Anyway, we get the argument you always make about politics being a GAME OF NUMBERS but please watch those numbers. We wonder how Green guys would react if defections went the other way.
We hear that world class signings are planned for deadline day. We will be there to report.
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