By Umaru Fofana
It sounds like beating a dead horse but I have to say it, again. Sierra Leone is a country too fertile for its eclectic tourism industry. You have to reason with the tourism minister therefore when she was quoted as saying that her ministry is “useless”. While this is not a piece aimed at addressing the tourist industry of a country that has thousands of species of birds, wild animals, flora and fauna, mountains, and beautiful sandy beaches of over a hundred miles stretching from north through west to the south, it helps to mention it once or twice that we are undermining the potential for revenue and jobs the industry has. Reasons range from the fact that we have lying leaders and their spin doctors’ policies that self-destruct.
Depart Freetown
I departed Freetown on Tuesday 19 June to travel with two other journalists to the German city of Bonn for a 3-day Global Media Forum organised by the German broadcaster, Deutsche Welle. Francis Sowa who teaches journalism at Fourah Bay College and Bai Bai Sesay who works for the Independent Observer were the others. We had been individually selected by the German embassy in Freetown. The journey, which should otherwise have taken only one day, lasted for FIVE days. And here is why:
Schengen Visa
Despite all the talk by our leaders that the country is making headway internationally and there is respectability for our country more than ever before since Britain left our shores, Schengen visas are not issued in Freetown. Our foreign ministry, which has possibly its worst minister since independence, seems to be in the doldrums and does not seem to appreciate the effect of this. How can he when he has a diplomatic passport.
Lungi Airport Hotel
I had to leave Freetown on Tuesday evening to overnight at Lungi because my flight was at 07:15 and it would have left by the time the first ferry was to arrive there on Wednesday. At Lungi the guesthouses are virtually unfit for a decent sleep. The Lungi Airport Hotel and the newly established Sierra Hotel are then the only choices. Rather shockingly the Lungi Airport Hotel charges an unbelievable US$ 130 per night. And what’s in it? An air-conditioned room with a bed and a bathroom. That’s all. I had to watch the England-Sweden match by the skin of my teeth. No Internet either. Even though I live in an area at Kingtom where the drainages are appalling, I have never encountered the beehive of mosquitoes such as I had to wrestle with in my hotel room at the Lungi Airport Hotel.
The irony in all of this is that there are warnings illustrated in images against mosquitoes. The plasmodium parasite-carrying insects dragged out my hands and face before morning. Then bumps took over my neck and biceps.
As I went under the shower at dawn to be at the airport in good time to check in, I discovered it was broken once I attempted to adjust it to fit my height. It had given way to rust and no-one had cared or bothered to fix it but they cared to collect the whooping amount. I barely had my bath.
At the counter to settle my bills, I realised the hotel is no longer run by the Sierra Leone Airports Authority. Some staff who came to see me off and even welcomed me lamented over the poor conditions under which they work. Salary is too shameful to state here. So why the high rate? I wondered. How I wish I had stayed at one of the guesthouses and saved the sponsors of my trip the extras.
Airport Security Tax
Before this trip I had not passed through the airport since the 7thof May. So when I was allowed in I had to join a queue. Not to check in but to pay US$ 24 as Security Tax. I did not see anyone who did not grumble about this; Not because of the obvious natural resistance to paying taxes but because there was no value for it. We had been made to believe that this tax was for the protection of our airport in a manner that it would leave the US Homeland Security guys green with envy over the sophisticated nature of our airport, which would keep even Osama Bin laden at bay.
After paying the amount, which to my mind is a complete rip-off, I did not see any sniffer dogs as we had been told. No CCTVs, no security personnel – uniformed or in mufti. In other words we just paid the money for some people who have some contact in government to be awarded some contract for some phoney enterprise. In effect, we are the only country in the whole world that I have been to – and I have been to dozens in Africa, Asia, America and Europe – where a passenger must have cash at hand to pay compulsorily when travelling through our airport. I wanted to complain but the men whose only job was to collect and the money and issue the ticket, were just messengers and paid a ridiculous salary.
Accra
Anyway…eventually I left for Accra where I stayed an airport hotel ten times better and more comfortable than the Lungi one for less. Then I begin to wonder what attracts a tourist to our country, which is of more historical significance than Ghana is. But like I say this is not a piece about our tourism industry but about the difficulty in travelling out of Sierra Leone especially to the Schengen zone.
On Thursday I went to the German embassy in Accra and it was quite smooth because their counterparts in Freetown had sent all documents relating to the trip. We were told to report on Friday to collect our visas. Then we left on Saturday night for Bonn and arrived on Sunday. Five Days to travel to Bonn as if we were going by boat or even by road. And this was because of the nature of our trip otherwise it would have taken weeks or even months. The 5-day period was five days too many. However much as it pains to travel to Bonn from Freetown, the days are still shorter than in 2012 when I was travelling to Spain. I had to spend a week in Dakar, alone, for my visa. And when I complained I was told again that my trip even had a concession hence “just one week”.
Whatever the reason for the introduction of the so-called Security Tax at the airport in Lungi is galling. This despite the fact that US$ 5 is still being paid as Security Charge as part of the US$ 65 paid as Airport Tax. But in a country where parliament does not seem to have the people at heart and in an election year when all their attention and that of the executive arm is focused on what brings votes, who will save us from the continued exploitation that this Security Tax is all about. The parliamentary committee of transport and aviation seems to have some other priorities.
I may as well just opt out of my trip to Paris in a few weeks. My current Schengen visa will have expired hence I will need another issued by the French embassy in Guinea, Conakry. Yes you heard me right…Guinea Conakry. Just when will we be told the truth about our country’s standing in the eyes of the international community.
Dr Guido Westerwelle
Talking about our foreign minister as I did above, in the last two hours I just watched the German Federal Foreign Minister Dr Guido Westerwelle address us. This is what a foreign minister should embody…representing their country with a brilliant display or brilliance and oratory enveloped in knowledge of issues about country, region, continent and world. All articulated in a way that will mesmerise even the hater. Did I tell you he is a polyglot? Even by German linguistic standards his Deutsch is phenomenal. And his English…boy!!!! Blair and Obama will give him an A+. Did I tell you he is very young? Show me a foreign minister Sierra Leone has had since the introduction of multiparty democracy in 1996. Just when will our leaders put country ahead of their personal interest in appointment to public office!
Anyway… Ich heiße Umaru Fofana und ich schreibe aus Bonn. Ich bedanke mich und bis nächste Woche. That’s the little of the Deutsch I have been taught here by two Sierra Leonean journalists studying here..Abu-Bakarr Jalloh and Sarah Bomkapre Kamara, which means THIS IS UMARU FOFANA WRITING FROM BONN. MANY THANKS AND SEE YOU NEXT WEEK.
