By Amadu Wyseman Daramy in Maryland, USA
The people of Lower Bambara Chiefdom, Kenema District, with seven chiefdoms, have lamented over the deplorable state of the road network for which they have accused the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) government of complete neglect and abandonment for the past forty years with successive governments making promises to fix the road but to no avail.
The chiefdom is rich in minerals and agriculture but alas does not have good roads as some of the roads have palm bridges, the reason the agricultural produce are smuggled to Guinea and Liberia.
At the moment, even before the middle of the raining season in July and August, the road has been cutoff. One wonders what will happen in July and August as the worst is expected thus increasing the suffering of the people.
The people appealed to government to prioritize the tractorization project costing $81 million from Mano Junction to Tongo Bumpeh Road that will be a further boost to the country’s infrastructure.
According to Yusuf Keketoma Sandy, Press Secretary at State House and a son of the soil when the President recently returned from South Korea, he announced that the EXIM Bank envisioned construction of the 87km road stretching from Kenema to Zimmi has been earmarked at a budget of $84 million dollars. This crucial project holds the promise of enhancing transportation networks fostering regional connectively and stimulating economic growth along the designated route.
Furthermore, the proposed encompasses a tractorization project aimed at modernizing agriculture practices and increasing productivity in the farming sector. Additionally, the development plan includes the construction of the Mano Junction to Tongo Bumpeh Road, valued at $81 million which seeks to improve road connectivity in rural areas, promote trade and commerce and enhance access to essential services for local communities.
It must be noted that the Tongo Road is one of the most important in the country due to the fact that the area is one of the bread baskets in the country and the road also connects to Kono and Kailahun (through Waima and Segwema) Districts and the North of the country that will facilitate development if the roads are fixed.
The people also called on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr. Timothy Kabba, a son of the soil, and their elected representatives like the Member of Parliament, Hon. Rugiatu Mussafa, Madam Hawa Foray , SLPP Women’s Leader, Yusuf Keketoma Sandy, Press Secretary at State House and Paramount Chief Alimamy Farma to advocate and lobby government for the road to be fixed as the people are suffering all due to the deplorable state of the road network that has resulted to the increase in the prices of basic commodities and killer transport charges especially commercial motorbikes that mainly ply the route.
According to the people, when the First Lady, H.E Fatima Bio recently visited Lower Bambara Chiefdom, she blamed indigenes from the chiefdom who are in government and the corridors of power for not advocating and lobbying government to rehabilitate the road network for which they blamed them for not seeking the interest of their people.
“The ailing Paramount Chief spends most of his time in Kenema City. The road from Tongo to Weima where diamonds are mined is well-maintained while that from Panguma Junction to Panguma is in a deplorable state,” an elder resident in the community, Pa Alhaji Quee lamented.
He called on the chiefdom authorities to appeal to the mining company operating in the area to fix the roads as part of their corporate social responsibility to the communities in which they operate as the chiefdom is endowed with stones and sand in addition to manpower highlighting that the people are more than prepared to offer their services to fix the road network adding that an indigene has also offered 50 bags of cement to kick start the project. He further underscored that road construction/rehabilitation should be government’s priority.
The people also called on the chiefdom authorities to account for the Le866, 000 donated to the Chiefdom Development Committee by the mining company, the President’s Infrastructure Initiative as well as the Sierra Leone Roads Authority to engage government to include in its recurrence budget the four-mile Tongo Junction to Panguma Road.
