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26th MAY 2011
FREETOWN: President Ernest Bai
Koroma this morning officially opened a two day
Tripartite Investment Conference at the Country Lodge, Hill Station, Freetown.
The conference is jointly organized by the 50TH Anniversary Committee, the
Ministry of Finance and SLIEPA under the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The meeting based its deliberations on the establishment of a new City, a bridge
and an improved Airport of international standard. Specifically the
conference looked at how to quickly propel the country into a higher
development trajectory. Such it is believed would be a key component for
stimulating economic growth and addressing critical developmental
challenges.
According to the organizers discussions revolved around the creation of a
new developmental hub that will comprise a new city located in Lungi
and a fully expanded up-scaled and modern international airport at Lungi. This will consequently require an improved
transport connectivity and flow of traffic between the new
city and Freetown, once again
echoing the call for the Lungi Bridge.
Three main reasons of each aspect, The City, Airport and bridge forwarded
by the organizers are: with regards the city – currently Freetown is too congested and does not
meet present and emerging demand for structural services and utilities. The
city is largely unplanned. There is no zoning into commercial, residential,
industrial and government areas. For a new airport- Current
Lungi Airport is relatively small and ill- equipped for
most modern day air carriers and for the Lungi Bridge
– significant and costly delays resulting from the unreliable and poor connectivity
between Freetown
and Lungi.
Introducing the chairman of the
conference Head of SLIEPA, Madam Strasser King
said the three related are the responsibility for every citizen to support
and put all hands on deck. Chairman for the occasion DR Kandeh
Yumkella, expressed his happiness to be of this
conference being invited by the President. He said the President will help
the country and people to look ahead positively and constructively as to
how the country will develop and grow in the next 50 years, referring to it
as a "sport –nic" moment.
DR Yumkella said
The President wants to challenge our people to think and mobilize them to
do big things. "His vision is to think, believe and do. We should
believe that yes we can," he said. The Chairman said President Koroma told him that this Conference is the beginning
of a solid dialogue.
Making a statement, the Chairman for
the 50th Anniversary Committee Professor Cecil Fyle ,said this
conference is particularly to stimulate our investors and see how much they
can be involved. "It is about seeing what best we can do in our next
50 years. Today we are looking at hard core investment and about how to
present what we have for sale," he observed. He affirmed that the
whole essence about investment is how to convince our visitors and
investors, adding that we must think on how to push our dreams positively
into the next 50 years and these are dreams that must be achieved.
Delivering his keynote address and
declaring the two day conference opened, President Koroma
pointed out that there must come a time in the life of a nation, when
certain key decisions should be made in order to shape the country's
destiny for a long time. He noted that these decisions are often
challenging and are made at an inflection point of a nation's history. President
Koroma disclosed that one such decision that our
nation needs to make is about the role of Lungi
in our development agenda. "Lungi must be
amongst the big resolutions that we must make during this jubilee of our
nation. Lungi is currently home to our only
international airport ; it is the gateway to our nation, and one of the
most beautiful places that is just a few miles away from our historic
capital city," he observed. "However," he continued, "we
also face major challenges with Lungi; and these
challenges have for long symbolized the inability of our nation to take big
decisions and mobilize the necessary will and resources to follow them
through." According to President Koroma our
present international airport and the crossing from Lungi
to Freetown
are hardly reflective of the immense potentials that lurk within the
borders of the country. He stated that the pressure on land in Freetown is so great that the hills and the coast of
the city are being built upon in ugly and dangerous ways, whilst just
across the Sierra Leone
River are hectares of
land for estate development, tourism and export processing zones. This
nation he stressed must no longer allow the state of our airport to deter
investors and visitors, adding that we must no longer allow ourselves to be
offering apologies to our visitors for difficult times they have crossing
over from Lungi.
He informed that government has organized this conference to decide the way
forward for Lungi and have laid out several options and looked at a number
of proposals. One of it he pointed out is the Tripartite Investment Programme that could define our nation's destiny. This programme he said proposes three big developments: a
bridge across the Sierra Leone
River a new city and a modernized airport in
Lungi "Sierra
Leone is one of the most strategic locations between
Africa, Europe and the Americas.
South America and Europe are less than five hours away from our shores and
these should make us the prime center for optical returns on trade and
investment in the west Coast of Africa"
President Koroma outlined
.
According to him we are currently attracting huge investment in ores, oil
and agriculture and the touristic potentials of
our beautiful beaches, historic islands and rare wildlife are second to
none on the west coast of Africa. He noted
that our Commitments to reform of the investment climate have made us the
best of places to do business in the sub- region. "However" he
observed "we have been held back from realizing optimal benefits from
these comparative advantages by a certain lack of boldness about
infrastructure"
He said the nation needs to break out of this hesitancy, as we must be bold
enough to have the courage of our convictions and pursue those
opportunities that will define our nation for future generations. President
Koroma affirmed that this Tripartite Investment Programme is an upscale of this infrastructural
development that will yield unimaginable returns for investors and the
country.
President Koroma said the programme
is not only about a physical bridge, it is also a mental bridge to a new
way of thinking and doing things for our country; it is a bridge that span 50
years hence to 50 years forward.
According to The President government has already had some preliminary discussions
with some of our guests and are heartened by that boldness of their ideas
and that through the dialogue process government has started they want to
move from concepts towards the definition of a plan.
He said the programme will be challenging, but
with vision, strength, and conviction we all can carry it through. He
cautioned that it is a programme that calls for
thinking out of the box; it calls for financing, logistical and
partnerships. "Transformative projects like these warrant strong
public private partnerships" he warned
President Koroma assured that government stands
ready to move on with this partnership; and provide the guarantees,
networks and support that are required to ensure formidable returns for the
parties involved
He applauded the African Development Bank, the Congomerates
and investors that were present and said government will welcome new
partnerships.
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