3 November, 2008

Press Secretariat, State House

Fishing Alone can lift Sierra Leone up – President Koroma

President Ernest Bai Koroma over the weekend told the people of Shenge (Moyamba District) and Bonthe Island (Bonthe District), all in the southern province, that their predominant occupation, fishing, has the potential of lifting Sierra Leone from the doldrums to prosperity.

On two separate occasions for both communities on Saturday 1^st November 2008, the President, who traveled by helicopter, said he was happy to launch the sites for the construction of jetties and other ancillary facilities in order to give the fishing profession the nobility it deserved.

In Shenge, the President said, “No one can finish talking about fishing in Sierra Leone without making mention of Shenge, the fishing basket of this country. This is not time for politics; it is time for development. And development does not choose a face or party or a surname. When it comes, everybody will enjoy; when it’s absent, everybody suffers. And development means we should get new things done. If we manage the fishing business properly, it alone can get this country developed.”

The Head of State reminded the people that his government is taking a tough stance on poaching trawlers from other countries through greater surveillance activities by the naval wing of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF). He also advised the people to avoid bad fishing methods, like the use of explosives and monofilaments, in order to preserve the fish for future generations; and how culprits would be apprehended. He said the fishing facilities to be provided would be owned and managed by the community, while urging them, through the local oversight committee, to have an eye on the contractors, so that the infrastructure would reflect value for money and completed within the approximated one-year time-frame.

Touching on other matters relating to the development of Shenge, the President said a mini-hydro project would soon take-off for the whole Moyamba district, and that before the end of his presidency he would drive to Shenge (which has virtually been cut off from the rest of the country due to a terrible road) on a first-class highway.

ADB representative Solomon Saybana Kamara, in very brief remarks, said he was there to assure the people that his organization would provide the funds and that the work would commence soon. The Member of Parliament of the area, the SLPP’s Veronica Kadie Sesay, said she admires the President and his attitudinal change campaign, and even joked that she might have voted for him in the last presidential elections.

Other speakers included Regent Chief M.J. Moriba, IDEAS Partnership/Consultants representative Sylvanus Luseni, Resident Minister South Musa Tarawalie and Deputy Minister of Finance Momodu Kargbo at the Kai Kai Wharf. MODCON construction company are the contractors of the project.

In Bonthe, President Koroma took a similar message to the people, stating that he was waiting to come with something positive to thank them for their support during the elections. He intimated that his relationship with PMDC Leader Charles Margai, together with that of the APC and the PMDC as a party, “is solid and growing from strength to strength.” But he said now is not a time to talk about politics, but development, as there would be no elections again until 2012. “Development can only come when we fight against our common enemy, as can be seen in poverty, illiteracy and disease. Poverty knows no party symbol, no color, and no political party.”

The President reiterated that fishing is capable of transforming not only the lives of the people of Bonthe, but the whole of Sierra Leone. He said the country has been losing an estimated twenty-nine million dollars yearly in the fishing sector: “For a country to be losing that much, this must be a serious business.” He also entrusted the success of the construction of the jetty and other facilities to the local people. “I’ve gone to different places and I have made the same pronouncement about bad contractors benefiting from projects at the expense of the people. This must stop. And it can only stop when we all become watchmen of our programs.” The President said it’s a shame that Sierra Leone is in the category of poor countries when it has a great potential in fishing, mining, and agriculture. “We should rise to the challenge and say enough is enough. We have done it before. And if we did it before, we can do it again,” he maintained.

The Deputy Mayor of the municipality Rebecca John, while welcoming the President and entourage, said the last time Bonthe had a taste of development was during the era of late President Siaka Stevens. Resident Minister South Musa Tarawalie gave the vote of thanks, while the contract documents were handed over to the IPC construction company.

Both the Shenge and Bonthe ceremonies were chaired by Acting Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Rosalind Oya Sankoh.