By Joseph A. Kamanda
President Julius Maada Bio is making progress in road infrastructure elsewhere in the country as pronounced in his State Opening of Parliament address to the nation on Tuesday, 6 August, 2024. Infrastructural development drive is aptly captured in government’s Big 5 Game Changers but little is being accomplished in actualizing the ambitious nation building goal duty bearers are promising the people.
Works on road network infrastructure ranging from the Gendema Bridge, which links Wandor, Gorama Mende and Simbaru chiefdoms in Kenema district, east of Sierra Leone, are very good developmental strides being rolled out to the people in those parts of the country, though very little. And like any Oliver Twists, the people who were very much exposed to development are asking Bio to do more in building their communities.
Also in his Tuesday, 6 August address to the nation, Bio informed all that works are at advanced stages on Matru Jong, Manowa, Mosello, Sumbuya, Kabba Ferry and Batkanu in a bid to facilitate and drive what he described as economic growth. The president described road infrastructure as a connector of economic centre and promoters of service delivery, though these highly anticipated road connectivity are to be fully seen in action since 4 April, 2018, as if roads are not governance priority.
President Bio inherited a solid road infrastructure foundation on which government under him could have consolidated to propel mass national road infrastructural development for the benefits of Sierra Leoneans across the nation.
Roads infrastructural development is a legal obligation of the government to link regions, districts, towns and communities nationwide and ignite constructive national development. Good roads were built by both past All People’s Congress (APC) and Sierra Leone People’s Party – SLPP led administrations of Ernest Bai Koroma and Alhaji Dr Ahmed Tejan Kabbah.
And foundations left by both predecessors were expected to have been fully exploited by succeeding regimes including that of incumbent Bio’s to propel national development in the area of roads.
Rather, most of the unfinished works President Bio inherited from the Koroma government have been consumed by dust on shelves, rendering roads in Freetown and other major cities and towns, pothole riddled. As a matter of fact potholes have taken over public highways in Freetown and other urban towns and cities across the country.
Prominent among major killer-potholes is the one that poses death trap at the Presidential Lodge entrance, Hill Station in Freetown. That State Lodge is the official residence of the presidency of the Republic of Sierra Leone such a pothole should not have been left on a road leading to the presidency. That depicts complete systems failure at the highest level in the infrastructure sector especially roads. It is unimaginable for diplomats, guests and friends of the presidency to be disgracefully greeted by potholes on a road at the entrance of president Bio’s residence. Bio brands himself as the most hardworking leader ever in the history of Sierra Leone’s infrastructural development. This speaks much to be desired about the leadership of president Bio if only his boasts of meeting deliverables in the last six years on his administration are anything to go by. It also shows how difficult it is becoming for Bio to handle governance matters in his second term, in circumstances where most of his cabinet ministers and heads of MDAs are his personal friends. People whom he may not in any way want to hurt like he did in his first term, which is no one, needs to ponder over the drop in public sector performance, as neglect of duties by heads of MDAs continue with impunity under the watch of Bio, to the peak of eroding the legacies of his predecessors.
Therefore government and President Bio’s boast of being a regime of nation builder amid countrywide poor road networks, with residents in cities and major urban communities rendered immovable due to pot-riddle roads raises serious national concern that should be urgently addressed.
The nation is in a hurry for development, especially for roads. The people want to link up with other communities with their produces, goods and services. And by extension if Feed Salone should meet its desired goals then road infrastructural development must be placed on top of the national agricultural productivity agenda.
At a recent question and answer session during a town hall held at the Bintumani International Conference Centre, Aberdeen, West of Freetown, president Bio replied his partisans that he has in the last six years worked more than all of his predecessors. His track record of hard work on obligatory presidential campaign pledges are more than those of Sir Albert Margai, Milton Margai, Siaka P. Stevens, Joseph Saidu Momoh, his former boss, Captain Valentine Esegragbo Melvin Strasser of the then National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) I, Alhaji Ahmed Tejan Kabbah and the Ernest Bai Koroma led All People’s Congress – an administration that turned the country into a works yard of infrastructural development projects across the nation. Koroma linked districts, towns and villages nationwide. The Kabbah – Koroma legacies will be attractive for generations yet unborn.
But where are yours for the last six years President Bio? The COI and witch hunt ACC fight? Much is still expected from you. So, up your game Mr President, the time for politicking is over; we are no longer in campaign season. It is now time for you to deliver for the people the much needed services. Since you promised this nation, Mr President you should be seen busy with delivering on the campaign promises you made in both 2018 and 2023.
However, one simple way of handling and addressing the challenges is to come down heavily on ministries, departments and their respective line agencies, particularly works. Apart from works, the Sierra Leone Roads Authority – SLRA who are reneging in their mandate of building new roads and up-keeping old ones as required by law, for their failure in doing their job.
The works ministry and SLRA are not doing the nation any favours but receiving salaries and annual subventions for their duties and responsibilities. And for failure to meet such obligations, duty-bearers must be fired for neglecting Freetown and other roads and relegating them to potholes.
