By Musa Kamara
At the Radisson Blu, Mammy Yoko Hotel in Freetown, and precisely on Friday August 14th 2020, the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs (MTCA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, has dashed out as grant of over Le4 billion to workers in the tourism sector, a sector that was seriously hit by the novel coronavirus.
The Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Memunatu Pratt (Mrs) assured the public that the grant is for over 2,600 workers in the tourism sector and specifically targeting hotels, restaurants, bars, casinos, night clubs, etc., across the country.
She said, the disbursement of such fund by government is to help salvage the plight of workers in the tourism sector who have been seriously affected by the dreadful coronavirus, and also categorically stating, the verification exercise has turned out to be transparent and accountable, and in the full view and participation of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA), police, accountants and auditors from the Ministry of Finance, and the media.
Initially, she said, some hotel managements and others in the tourism sector doubted the process and she alleged, some were with the feeling that it is a witch-hunt, and thereby treated the process with levity. She maintained that those registered now stand to be the beneficiaries of the grant nationwide.
Mohamed Jalloh, Director of Tourism heightened that each beneficiary stand to receive the sum of one million and eight hundred thousand Leones (Le1,800,000) over a period of 3 months, and apparently at the minimum wage of six hundred thousand Leones (Le600,000) per month.
He enlightened that those receiving the monies are those registered with the National Tourists Board (NTB) and the Hotel and Tourism Association, and he described the verification process as ‘water tight.’
Victoria Clark, a beneficiary, who doubled as the Marketing Manager for Family Kingdom and the Public Relations Officer for the Hotel and Tourism Association admitted, the cash disbursement has so far been transparent, and she encouraged those that are yet to receive cash, to exercise patience and have confidence in the system.
The cash distribution process staged at the Radisson Blu, Mammy Yoko Hotel in Aberdeen, Freetown is expected to last for three (3) days for both Western Area Urban and Rural, and same to be continued in the provincial headquarter towns of Bo, Kenema, Makeni and Port Loko.
The beneficiaries commended the process and the Government of Sierra Leone for standing firm on its promise to the tourism sector.
