President Bio’s Government Commits Le 349 Billion To Construct 41 Roads

The New Direction government of His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio through the Ministry of Finance has signed a Le 349.4 Billion (Three hundred and forty nine billion four hundred million Leones) contract with road contractors for the construction and rehabilitation of major roads within and outside Freetown.

Addressing the contractors and SLRA officials the Minister of Finance, Jacob Jusu Saffa,
described the signing ceremony as significant and a milestone in the transformative drive President Bio has undertaken in the country.

He added that the signing of the contracts is a demonstration of government’s commitment towards infrastructural development and also a manifesto fulfillment of His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio during his campaign.

Mr Saffa informed that government will be disbursing 25% of the total sum to the contractors and the balance paid upon satisfactory performance.

He disclosed that a total of 41 roads across the country will be rehabilitated and more done once these are completed.

He called on the contractors to bring out their best as government will be monitoring all the work and further payment can only be done when the work is deemed to be of high quality.

The Finance Minister asked the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) to be robust in its monitoring and ensure that the contractors don’t use the monies given to them to offset their loans in banks. “We want to see good work at all levels and we want the work to be completed within the stipulated time-frame,” he implored.

Among the roads to be constructed or rehabilitated, according to the Finance Minister, include:
Maboreh Junction-Furniture Junction, Funkya Road, Mayenkineh Road, Furniture Junction-Grafton, Leicester Road, Lucas Street, and Internal FBC Road Network.

The Director General of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority, Engineer Amara Kanneh, commended the New Direction government for taking such a bold step amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

He assured that the Authority has done due diligence on all the companies and that they are of the view that they will pull through on time.

He urged all the contractors to take the contracts seriously, saying this government respects value for money.

Minister of Works, Housing and Infrastructure, Peter Bayuku Conteh, pledged to effectively monitor the works to ensure that all the roads are done in accordance with the right specifications.

The CEO of Gento Group of Companies, Ahmed Gento Kamara, commended the government for signing the MoU with them and assured that they will do their best to do the roads properly.

Among the companies that signed the contracts are Fimet/Beton Villa, First Tricon, SECON, and CSE.