The Proprietress and Chief Executive Officer of a proposed Youth Skills Training Centre formerly situated at Lumley Beach, has informed Forum Newspaper that her middle level man power capacity building facility was demolished by officers of the National Tourist Board, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the Ministry of Lands Country Planning and the Environment.
The demolition was carried out on orders from the Director, National Tourist Board, Fatmata Osagie, the Director of Tourism Mohamed Jalloh and the former All People’s Congress (APC) Minister of Lands Country Planning and the Environment, Hon. Alhaji Musa Tarawally.
The property according to Madam Metzger was acquired way back in 2002 through the support of late former President Alhaji Dr Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, to build a skills training centre for the capacity development of young people.
Madam Annie Metzger made the disclosure Friday 12th June, 2020 whilst inspecting the site in question together with her family members, where she explained to them how the portion of land has been encroached upon and her structure was demolished by Guineans aided by Government workers from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the National Tourist Board and the Ministry of Land Country Planning and the Environment under the ministerial authority of Hon. Musa Tarawally in 2014.
Madam Metzger alleged that the land was later collectively re-offered to a Guinean national by Hon. Alhaji Musa Tarawally, Director of National Tourist Board, Fatmata Osagie and the Director of Tourism Mohamed Jalloh, even though the then Lands Minister, Hon. Alhaji Tarawally had no business to do with beach land allocation, yet the former Lands Minister went ahead to made the wrong offer to Kelfala Camara alias Khay Pay Say against an indigenous Sierra Leonean investment interest.
She said when she started visiting the site she has always been faced with stiff confrontations from Khay Pay Say’s henchmen, the Police who always arrests and detained her at the Lumley Police Station.
She explained that the Guinean national Kelfala Camara Kha Pay Say bogusly brags saying that; “the land belongs to me. It was offered me by the former Lands Minister Alhaji Musa Tarawally, along with an offer letters and receipts to the effect to develop it.”
Annie Metzger added that, whenever she attempt at undertaking any developmental project on the said plots of land, she and her workers are always confronted with arrests, detentions and most times by gangs hired by the Guinean national Kha Pay Say.
“This malicious act was done by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the National Tourist Board and the Ministry of Lands against me in favour of a Guinean construction company called UICOPRES, and the boss, for huge sum of millions of United States Dollars,” she explained.
She said she is at the moment stressed and disgust with the demolition of her project meant to transform the lives of young people, whose case is almost abandoned at the Appeals Court of Sierra Leone, where judgement has still not been delivered on her matter since the last regime.
Madam Metzger said she filed a “stay of execution” which was violated by Kelfala P. Camara Kah Pay Say and his encroachers, though she actually won the contempt of court matter in 2016, because court told them that they were never told to demolish the structure, since then they filed an appeal and the court has so far been dragging feet over the matter.
While all these holdups were continuing, Lady Mezo and her workers have been subjected to series of Police arrests and detentions with threats by Kaifala Kah Pay Say that they have money, they can do anything and go free in Sierra Leone, adding that no representative of the National Tourism Board and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture has been going to court in respect of the matter as their appeal were thrown out.
“I suppose to be paying Le 3,000,000 per year for the four town lots for which they now charge three times,” she said, adding that the former Minister of Lands and Country Planning and the Environment, Hon. Alhaji Musa Tarawally of the last administration, National Tourist Board and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture who gave Kelfala Kha Pay Say Camara different receipts and offer letters with different dates for the same property.
Madam Metzger said when she reached her lawyer Francis Ben Kaifala now Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission; she was advised by Lawyer Ben Kaifala to seek an injunction and deal with the third party.
When contacted for his side of the story the former APC Minister of Lands and Country Planning and the Environment, Hon. Alhaji Musa Tarawally said; “What has that got to do with me. Tourism is responsible for the allocation… they write to Lands for implementation.” He denied never signing offer letters, noting and that Tourist Board offer tourist development lands to developers, and writes to the Ministry of Lands.
However, efforts to reach Director of National Tourist Board, Fatmata Osagie and the Director of Tourism Mohamed Jalloh for their various comments prove fruitless.
