Parliamentary Committee On Water Resources Engages SALWACO

By Feima Sesay

Managing Director of the Sierra Leone Water Company (SALWACO), Ing. George L. Vandi has on Thursday 9th September, 2021 updated Members of Parliament on the status of ongoing water projects across the country.

This event took place at the Administrative building of parliament.

According to Ing. Vandy, the company has embarked on a number of projects across the country that a good number of them have almost completed.

MD Vandy explained that the Bonthe water project when completed will be first the of its kind in the sub region as some neighboring countries had tried to construct such projects but ended up failed.

He assured MPs that, in not too distance future, Blama and its environs will enjoy supply of pure drinking water.

The MD said funding for some of the projects had been a challenge for the company but assured that once funding is made available, those projects will be completed and the people will start to enjoy the facility.

The MD also made mention of the challenges on procurement of the materials the contractors need to do their work; noting that COVID has made most of the manufacturing companies to stop production of those materials.

Responding, the chairman of the Committee Hon. Lahai Marah commended the newly appointed SALWACO Boss for his hard work to ensuring that water projects across the country are completed.

He requested that SALWACO provide them with most of the projects documents or contracts awarded as well as; details of those contracts.

The MPs requested that the committee wants to pay a visit to Bonthe projects to have first hand information of the project, as it is a parliamentary project that had drawn the attention of not only the MPs but the Speaker of Parliament.

The MPs observed that lots of water pipes have been destroyed by some utility companies; he called for quick probe on all the utility companies to give account on the said damages made so far.

The committee is intending to visit all the projects’ site across the country so as to access the work done and to know their status.

Bio Launches US$156 M. New Global Fund Grant

His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has launched a $156 million new Global Fund Grant to strengthen healthcare systems and the control of Malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and the new Delta Variant of the Covid -19 pandemic in the country.

The Global Fund is a partnership designed to accelerate the end of AIDS, Tuberculosis, and malaria as epidemics. The Fund was created in 2002 to support programs run by local experts, including governments, civil societies, technical agencies, the private sector, and people affected by the diseases. Since 2004, the Global Fund has invested over $347.3 million in Sierra Leone.

Its Executive Director, Peter Sands, thanked President Bio for his leadership in the fight against COVID-19 and praised his commitment to being the co-funding partner in the fight against Malaria, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and the current scourge of the Coronavirus. He added that the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and the Catholic Relief Services, CRS, were the two main principal recipients who would work alongside other sub-recipients to roll out the 2021-2024 programme of the Global Fund.

Peter Sands further noted that in 2004 Sierra Leone received the first Global Fund grant and since that time the country had continued to benefit immensely from the Fund in the response to HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and malaria, adding that they had enabled the country fight those three diseases.

“Significant results have been achieved through the Global Fund in Sierra Leone. The ambitious target would have great implication on the people to build a prosperous future for the country,” he told the meeting.

Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr Austin Demby, said it was a special day in the relationship between the government of Sierra Leone and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria, adding that as the principal recipient of the Fund, his ministry was determined to intensify surveillance and epidemiology efforts to better understand the burden of HIV infections in the country, to reduce stigma, and to intensify efforts towards attaining the 95/95/95 goals and epidemic control of HIV.

The 95-95-95 strategy was announced by UNAIDS in 2014, aiming to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 by achieving 95% diagnosed among all people living with HIV, 95% on antiretroviral therapy among diagnosed, and 95% virally suppressed among treated.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to working with our partners to set ambitious targets and associated metrics to measure progress gained in the march towards the global goal of TB elimination by 2035,” he assured.

President Julius Maada Bio noted that in spite of disruptions occasioned by COVID-19, he believed that it was possible to get back on track in the country’s fights against the burdens of HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria, noting that getting back on track would require significant resource mobilisation.

“That is why my Government has been working hard to establish strong partnerships with reputable institutions and donor partners around the world. One such partner is the Global Fund.

“I am also pleased to further inform you that the Government of Sierra Leone has committed additional funding of $9,465,377 (Nine Million, Four Hundred and Sixty-Five Thousand, Three Hundred and Seventy-Seven United States Dollars) as counterpart funding to fight HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and Health system strengthening for the period spanning financial year 2021-2024,” he said.

The President further reiterated the fact that the Global Fund had been the largest investor in grants to build resilient and sustainable health systems in the country, adding that their investments in tools, systems, health workers, and laboratory resources were underpinning the government’s COVID-19 responses and other disease burdens in the country.

“Be assured that Sierra Leone will continue to be a strong ally in all your high-level advocacy campaigns for strengthening health systems,” he concluded.

First Digital Mid-Term Census

4 Int. Consultants start work

After the first successfully implemented digital cartographic mapping of Sierra Leone, Stats SL is stepping up preparation for the first electronic mid-term census later this year.

The geographic information system (GIS) resources such as shape files are being loaded onto the tablets so that census enumerators will easily use the tablets in the specified enumeration areas (EAs) and do their work efficiently with record speed.

Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Ghana have tried and tested these technologies, therefore Sierra Leone is now benefiting from an effective South-South collaboration among our national statistical offices.

This week, two consultants from the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia have joined two others already in the country to step up support to Stats SL as the institution prepares for the 2021 fully digital Mid-Term Census later this year.

Mr Andrew Mukulu (Ugandan), a Census Technical Adviser, advises African countries on critical issues relating to Censuses to ensure international benchmarks are met; and Ms. Eleanor Keeble (British) supports data quality assurance processes and setting up of tools for monitoring and evaluation of the census processes.

Already in the country are Adebayo Olatubosun (Nigerian), the ECA/World Bank/UNICEF Census Mapping Consultant who Leads work on the digital Cartographic Mapping of Sierra Leone and Dr Baris Ucar (Turkish), the UNFPA Population Census Coordination Specialist, who is supporting Stats SL on several issues of the 2021 Mid-Term Census

After an initial briefing with the Chief Census Officer Prof Osman Sankoh, COR, and Executive Management, the consultants have started meeting with various Stats SL teams working on the mid-term census.

NJALA UNIVERSITY SECRETARIAT SETS THE RECORDS STRAIGHT

The Njala University of Makonde in Bo has responded to a false allegation of Non-Issuance of University Certificates through a press release dated on the 8^th September, 2021.

See press release below

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE…

Reaction to Allegations of Non-Issuance of University Certificates

The attention of the Njala University Registry has been drawn to allegations on social media by students claiming to have graduated from the University in 2019.

This set of students have alleged that they had been deprived of their University Certificates even when they had met all their financial obligations to the University. This according to them has deprived them of getting jobs, scholarships, and other benefits.

The Registry wants to make the following clarifications on the issue for the attention of the General Public as follows:

✔️ Students who have completed their programs and had their results published should register for graduation and had their degrees conferred on them by the Chancellor of the University.

✔️ Graduands who had fulfilled the above, are expected to sign a specimen at the University Registry. This is to ensure that their details are correctly stated on their certificates.

✔️ The University Registry provides for the issuance of certificates on an emergency basis at no extra cost. However, applicants requesting these services are expected to give a week’s notification to the Registry.

✔️ Holders of the Sierra Leone Grant In-Aid have the obligation to honor all financial obligations to the University as they pertain to Graduation.

We want to register our dissatisfaction that the allegations on social media are untrue, and we encourage our students to their financial obligations and follow the other procedures leading to the issuance of their certificates.

Police Promotions Out

The Sierra Leone Police (SLP) has promoted over 40 police personals that will perform their special duties in the police force.

Below is the official list