Loading ...
-
☝🏾Read that article in THE OSWALD HANCILES COLUMN published in 2011.
Can we have such tropical fruit processing factories in every district in Sierra Leone? Cost?
Estimated cost of a single factory: $4,000,000.
16 districts x $4,000,000 =... more☝🏾Read that article in THE OSWALD HANCILES COLUMN published in 2011.
Can we have such tropical fruit processing factories in every district in Sierra Leone? Cost?
Estimated cost of a single factory: $4,000,000.
16 districts x $4,000,000 = $64,000,000.
$2,000,000,000 cost of the Lungi Bridge project - $64,000,000 for all the fruit factories = $1,936,000,000.
How many jobs would dozens of fruit farms and 16 fruit processing factories sustainably create in every district in Sierra Leone?
How much income for farmers and workers, and revenues for government, will the fruit factories mean for Sierra Leone - at less than ten percent of the cost of the $2 billion Lungi bridge?
Can we crunch the numbers, please?
I pause,
Oswald Hanciles, The Guru.
June 30, 2019
14
9 hours in Freetown, Sierra Leone less
-
*National Protected Area Authority and Conservation Trust Fund*
By Oswald Hanciles
*First Published on May 23, 2016*
The National Protected Area Authority and Conservation Trust Fund is 18,000 hectares of species-rich tropical rainforest on the... more*National Protected Area Authority and Conservation Trust Fund*
By Oswald Hanciles
*First Published on May 23, 2016*
The National Protected Area Authority and Conservation Trust Fund is 18,000 hectares of species-rich tropical rainforest on the mountains of Western Peninsular of Freetown, Sierra Leone. It’s one of the most unique tropical rainforests in the world – mountainous region close to sparkling idyllic beaches, which also hosts the capital city of a country 10 degrees from the equator; with warm water ocean, splendid for swimming. These forests are under severe threat.
The Authority came into existence in the National Protected Area Authority and Conservation Trust Fund Act of 2012. This lead to the demarcation of the Western Area Peninsular Park.
The Authority has been spawned from the Forestry Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Food Security (MAFFS). The Forestry Division had three units : a) Commercial Unit ; b) Community Development Unit ; c) Conservation and Wildlife Unit – which was upgraded to form the Authority.
The Authority is faced with severe encroachment on its lands by three sets of people:
1. Poor people who encroach on the lands to chop wood to make charcoal.
2. Those who burn the forests to get to the hard granite beneath them to crush rocks for construction.
3. The rich and powerful who burn the forests down for construction of their mansions.
Of the three groups, the rich and powerful elite are the most destructive, and the most difficult to check, according to Mrs. Karems-Garnet.
The beautiful fair complexion and soft-spoken but very tough Mrs Karems-Garnet told me how the rich and power-elite would “lay claim to lands” in the protected area; sometimes, without even the knowledge of the Director of Lands at the Ministry of Lands and Environment. At other times, lands ministry officials would actually give them authoritative documents to construct houses in the protected forests areas.
The Authority would question these illegal acquisitions. The Authority would break down whatever beacons or temporary structures these rich people would erect. Up, the rich would defiantly put down their beacons . Down, the Authority would take them down. . Up. Down. A test of wills. Sometimes, the rich would get added security, and flagrantly move into to construct their mansions.
I asked Mrs Karems-Garnet what was the relationship between the Authority and the lands ministry that would knowingly authorize the sale of lands in the protected areas, and in a voice of that of nun, she said, “it has not been cordial”. And quickly deflected my probe by raising hope in the integrity of the new Director of Lands, Christian Pratt.
Mrs Karems-Garnet said that she would often be intimidated by the rich and powerful who would “drop big political names” to get her to stop breaking their beacons and zinc shacks to show proof of ownership of land in the forest protected areas. She said she would not be fazed: “I simply follow the law. I would tell them that if any minister wants to change the law, it has to be through Parliament”.
Still, the task is daunting for Mrs Karems-Garnet. There are now dense human settlements around the Babadori area in Regent, close to the Babadori dam: “That dam is now dry. The forests that catch the rain to fill the dam have been destroyed” by those constructing houses.
There is also encroachment around the Guma Valley Water Company dam area; and Sugar Loaf, and from Goderich.
The law only gives the Authority the right to break beacons and makeshift structures, not permanent structures. If a permanent structure has to be broken, the Authority would need to take the matter to court, and gets a judge’s authority to break a permanent structure. But, if Parliament passes a law on this, it would be done, Mrs Karems-Garnet said.
Including being a catchment area for water for the 2 million people in Freetown, the forests in the Authority are also one of the richest and most biologically diverse in the world: rare mammals in the forests include Maxwell duiker, chimpanzees, Bush buck. There is also the extremely rare white-necked picathartes bird. . The forests are part of the Upper Guinea Forest Block, recognized globally as one of the most species-rich forests in the world. There is need for massive education to save these forests.
The Authority has an “Outreach and Communications Specialist”, Karems-Garnet said.. Collaborating with the United Nations REDD+ Capacity Building Project, Euros 5 million has been secured from the European Union to improve on education about the forests.
The National Protected Area Authority and Conservation Trust Fund has prepared a document on the water crisis in Freetown today with the Guma Valley Water Company, and they are to present this paper to Parliament tomorrow, May 24, 2016, at 10:00a.m.
☝🏾Are our institutions working better now with a new government in office? I posted the above information on social media while I was the media adviser to former President Ernest Bai Koroma at State House .
Is the National Protected Area Authority being inter-ministerial, inter-departmental, inter-disciplinary... stimulating synergy with the media and civil society, and Parliament? Apparently, they weren't before...
Can we get weekly updates from those groups responsible for our environment - the Ministry of Lands and Environment in the Environment; the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; the Environment Protection Agency (EPA); the National Protected Area Authority; State House....???
Water.
Food.
Housing.
Jobs. Jobs!
Water; food; housing; jobs...: that is what the "environment" means to us in Sierra Leone. It's not an esoteric matter we should be detached from. It concerns daily survival - or, we trigger starvation; dehydration; flooding; mudslides; sterility of agriculture soils...
"$2trillion annually for man-made Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation measures in Africa from the richest nations of the world" - Oswald Hanciles. That's is not an elixir. But it would enhance Africa going into Green Preventative War Mode now - massive tree planting exercises, etc.
"Think big - as big the problem": Fareed Zakaria said on his GPS show on CNN this week.
Fareed Zakaria: one of the greatest columnists in the modern world-turned television presenter... in his highly educative CNN weekly programme said that within two decades world population could go up to 10 billion people - and demand for water would be 40 percent higher than supply.
There will be dramatic increase in Africa's population - and demand for water will increase by 300%. Three hundred percent more demand for water in Africa‼‼‼‼‼‼
The realities of global warming and the caprices of emerging
man-made Climate Change demands big thinkers like Oswald Hanciles.
Listen, Africa. Take heed, Sierra Leone.
I pause,
Oswald Hanciles, The Guru.
June 24, 2019
21:02 hours in Freetown, Sierra Leone less
-
THE OSWALD HANCILES COLUMN
The Big Lie Embedded in Political Tribalism (Part 2)
President Maada Bio’s “New Direction” policy is going to accelerate development for Sierra Leone – especially when the $2 billion Lungi Bridge is constructed. That’s a... moreTHE OSWALD HANCILES COLUMN
The Big Lie Embedded in Political Tribalism (Part 2)
President Maada Bio’s “New Direction” policy is going to accelerate development for Sierra Leone – especially when the $2 billion Lungi Bridge is constructed. That’s a lie!! Just like former President Ernest Bai Koroma’s “Agenda for Change” and “Agenda for Prosperity”… were also lies. Not small lies. But, “Big Lies” – of Orwellian proportion. In the first part of this serial, I wrote on a central Big Lie in the Sierra Leonean psyche: “Political Tribalism”. Integral in the Political Tribalism Big Lie is the Big Lie that Sierra Leone can develop with its current relatively rotten and largely unproductive civil service and public service being drivers; with a DNA for stealing of public money.
After the SLPP Leader, President Tejan Kabbah, had declared Sierra Leone’s civil war ended in 2002, he established the Human Resources Management Office (HRMO) in government - to revamp the public sector. There was also established sometime after that the governance reform office. I asked a Permanent Secretary who retired from the civil service two years ago - after almost thirty years of service - what changed in the civil service after our civil war. He told me that about a year before the APC lost the presidency in the March, 2018 presidential election, the salaries of permanent secretaries (the administrative heads of ministries) spiked from about Le2,000,000 to about Le20,000,000 a month. Those like him who retired on a monthly salary of Le2,000,000 are now getting a NASSIT-calculated pension of about Le1,000,000 a month. The low salaries of about the highest officers in the civil service had this implicit message: STEAL PUBLIC MONEY. If the permanent secretaries don’t steal money from government/the public, they won’t be able to feed themselves adequately even on a daily basis; not to talk of maintaining themselves at decent middle class levels. Owning a house by permanent secretaries at such low salaries would be mere fantasy. Very little has changed. And what are the ramifications of this system that compels its most senior officers to steal public money?
The permanent secretaries are the administrative heads and financial controllers of ministries. Ministers who invariably see it as their divine right to enrich themselves must go through the permanent secretaries to steal public money. Once the ministers conspire with the permanent secretaries to steal, they lose the moral authority to demand high standards from them. Often, permanent secretaries have to collude with junior staff to steal; thus, they too wouldn’t dare to demand discipline or probity from their junior staff. Several serving and retired senior civil servants have told me that there is almost no discipline in the civil service; no measurement of productivity. Civil servants get promoted without regard to their productivity. About three years ago, I had to process medical papers for my twin brother, a deputy minister. I pressed the health ministry officials relentlessly. (Anything you want done in almost any ministry in Sierra Leone, you have ‘to run after it’; or else, it won’t get done). Finally, I kept on pestering the Permanent Secretary; and one day, I met him pecking at his computer keyboard (most of the elderly folks who are at senior positions in the civil service find it almost impossible to use the computer), and he said to me in the Krio language: “Norto say are nar wan do u woke, O. Nar three day done pass so, are nar dae see me secretary. Ar nar go tuk nartin. U know say dem all get dem yone lane”. (Meaning: a lowly secretary to the highest administrative officer in a ministry, the Permanent Secretary, could disobey a PS, and the PS would be too scared to even take action on the secretary). It was symptomatic of what has happened – is happening – in the civil service.
Retired Brigadier Maada Bio during his first couple of months on taking up office as President of the Republic of Sierra Leone in 2018, started making spot checks in ministries at the start of the working day – to put civil service workers on the spot to get to work on time. With television cameras in tow, it was shown that he didn’t meet some permanent secretaries behind their desks at the start of the working day. We don’t know what punitive action the President ordered on those who were not at their desks on time; and what has been done as regards punctuality in the civil service. Punctuality is necessary; but, what is desperately needed is the measurement of productivity, and reward for productivity; and PUNISHMENT for laziness.
Former President Tejan Kabbah (SLPP) started it (1996 to 2007); and former President (2007 to 2018) Ernest Bai Koroma (APC) continued with it: a system in which ministers and heads of government agencies would sign a “Performance Contract” with the President. Special offices were created to monitor productivity. Implicitly, it meant that ministers would be retained or dismissed based on their satisfactory productivity or lack of productivity. Both presidents engineered public ceremonies of these ministers or managing directors ‘showing their report cards’ to the public. What I have reliably learned (I worked as media adviser to the President at State House between January, 2012 and March, 2018) is that all of these performance tracking systems were a charade. Ministers and managing directors would be fired or sustained in office based purely on the whims and caprices of whoever was president – not for productivity or lack of it. At any rate, it would be highly illogical to sign a performance contract with a minister to goad him to perform, and the minister has to work with a civil service that is not bound by such a performance contract; his hands tied by civil service personnel he could not hire or fire. I find it simply amazing that even after the implosion of our systems in the 1980s; and the explosion into a nasty and brutish civil war in the 1990s, successive governments of Sierra Leone, and parliaments, still have not moved to resolutely overhaul the civil service and public service.
Our “Big Lie” through the prism of an American
“Much of the written material on Sierra Leone alleges that it is in the midst of "recovering" from its civil war. ….`Recovering’ implies some level of progress. The reality, however, is that efforts toward progress are consistently contaminated by so many antithetical and evil forces, coming from every conceivable direction, wreaking such logistical and mind-boggling havoc that it is wiser and safer to endure them than to risk the chaos that erupts from attempts to defeat them…….
……Sigmund Freud wrote, ‘Men are strong as long as they represent a strong idea.’ However, Sierra Leoneans consistently fail to ‘represent’ — bring forth, realize, implement, display — their ideas. They cannot seem to find their way from the theoretical to the practical…In Sierra Leone, moving beautiful and lofty ideas rarely morph into tangible solutions. The people are experts at envisioning progress, not accomplishing it……The civil war has ended, but there is a new and, in many ways, more complex war being waged between exquisite idealism and rampant corruption.
“……Unfortunately, idealism is pacifist by nature, while corruption is militant. Sierra Leone remains a combat zone where fallen ideals have traded places with the bodies and appendages that once littered the battlefield. Corruption, now, is the weapon of mass destruction.
…..The magnitude of corruption in Sierra Leone is obscene! It is so prevalent in local and national governments, institutions, organizations, businesses and industries (most notably, in the diamond industry), that it has altogether prevented Sierra Leone from meriting even a semi-serious role in global politics or its economy….”
(Hope amid hopelessness By KATHERINE FITZGERALD; SOURCE: WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES, PUBLISHE
SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2009 AT 20 AM; http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20090405/CURR04/304059963).
There was robust debate in Sierra Leonean cyberspace when Katherine "Katie" FitzGerald first had those words published ten year ago. She is a US citizen; an adjunct professor of philosophy at Jefferson Community College in the United States. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology from Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Mass, US., and holds a Master’s of Arts degree in Theology from Emory University, Atlanta, US. She lived and worked in Sierra Leone for several years. Do we dismiss her putting Sierra Leoneans on a therapeutic couch?.
Challenge to puncture the Big Lie for President Bio
President Bio is challenged – like former President of Ghana, Flight Lieutenant J.J. Rawlings successfully did as military Head of State; and as elected President – to end the Big Lie of encouraging lassitude in the civil service; and the imperative to be corrupt. While at State House, I had made a formal suggestion to former President Ernest Bai Koroma on one potent way productivity could be spurred in our political service. Government should go into Development Communications (DC) mode. Professionals steeped in DC would continually monitor what ministries and agencies are doing. And, they should be given freedom to publish their findings. They should collaborate with the learned PRIVATE print and electronic media. If for example, the media turns its floodlight on the fisheries ministry, they would publicize what is positive or negative there – and, the public would not only know what is going on in that sector, but, would be induced to collaborate with the relevant authorities in the fisheries sector to solve or mitigate problems. That way, the presidency can bring the people more aggressively into the development process. President Bio can ignore my advice here. Or, belie it. What is almost sure to happen if he fails to listen to me?
President Bio without going into Development Communications mode will find it extremely hard to win his second term in 2023. If he does, he is sure not to have a person from the SLPP to succeed him. When the APC government of President Ernest Bai Koroma was in power, many highly educated APC partisans appear to believe their own jingoistic boast: that the APC would rule for fifty unbroken years. If the Big Lie of Sierra Leone are confronted, and neutralized, the current president can learn from China, or Singapore, and his party may stay in power for a long time. less
This page no longer exists or has been removed
-
*THE OSWALD HANCILES COLUMN*
*"There is No Plan B..."*
*"(Climate Change) ....is one of the most ...serious issues....which world
leaders **must attack**...without wasting any much further time...Time is of the essence...! You have seen... more*THE OSWALD HANCILES COLUMN*
*"There is No Plan B..."*
*"(Climate Change) ....is one of the most ...serious issues....which world
leaders **must attack**...without wasting any much further time...Time is of the essence...! You have seen so many cases of extreme weather patterns.. which has been striking all around the world... It happened right in the middle of New York...Climate Change is happening much more
faster.... than one would expect.... Climate Change is happening because of human behaviour....And If it is happening because of us, then it is us ...we, the human beings, who ... must correct it....We have only one
earth,...Some people...who do not support this.... may think we have Planet Earth B ....No.....We have only one planet earth...Therefore, there is no Plan B ...We have only ... Plan A.....We need political leadership ... That is why I am convening on September 23rd of this year...in the United Nations....World Leaders Climate Change Summit Meeting..." *
-
*Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, Freetown.*
When the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, stood next to the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, H.E. Ernest Bai Koroma, during a joint press conference about a week ago at State House, Freetown, I absolutely comment here that the above-quoted response to the question by "veteran" journalist, Clarence Roy-Macaulay (Associated Press), on "Climate Change", was the most thought-inducing one . For feisty-politically-partisan-and-polarized Sierra Leoneans, the mention of
the two words "Plan B" would evoke derisive thoughts of the lurking threat in the words of "veteran" politician, Charles Margai, about two years ago - about a "Plan B" to outwit the governing APC government. What our 11 years civil war should have taught us in Sierra Leone is that there is really NO 'Plan B' for Sierra Leone - we either sail together, or, sink together. But, then, even if we follow the elixir-sounding prescription of Ban Ki Moon - "*Rule of Law**"**...**"**Quality
Education**"* - to manage our country as if Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohamed combined were national leaders, 'Climate Change' would wreck havoc to our most valiant efforts of good governance; and blight President
Koroma's vision of a "Middle Income Sierra Leone in 35 years".
*'**The ant**'**s world**'** is not ALL of planet earth*
For the human race not to collectively address the emerging realities of 'Climate Change' would be like this: *an ant is luxuriating on a slice of bread with butter and jam, nibbling away; the bread is inside the captain's cabin of a huge passenger ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean carrying over a thousand passengers; the ant **'**thinks**'**: "
I will protect this wealth with all the weapons at my command!"; but, unbeknown to the ant, others are setting fire to parts of the ship, others are boring deep holes on the sides the ship, causing the ship to dangerously bend; and, if they are not stopped, the ship would sink to the bottom of the ocean, and no matter how much the ant tries to defend its 'slice of bread world', it would die like the rest of the passengers on the ship*. The biggest and most powerful of all nations - the U.S., Russia, UK, Japan, China, Germany, etc. - are like that ant. As well as tiny nations like the Gambia, Benin, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, etc.
*Climate Change is the **'**Truly First World War**'*
All the biggest wars mankind has ever fought would pale in comparison to the ongoing 'Climate Change war'. The Second World War was
ferociously fought in Europe, North Africa and Asia. It ended with the dropping of the hydrogen bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in 1945. It gave humanity a glimpse of man-created Armageddon. It was
not, in essence, a 'world war' - large swathes of the planet in South America, Africa, and North Atlantic were largely untouched by it.
*Climate Change is essentially **'**The First World War**'*. Wars have to have 'enemies' and 'friends'. The 'enemy'...? The 'enemy' in this '*Truly
First World War**'* is frightfully amorphous.
The Allied Powers in Europe during the so-called 'Second World War'knew who the enemy were - Adolf Hitler's rampaging Nazi war machine;
the megalomaniac Benito Mussolini of Italy, and 'emperor-god' of Japan who inspired kamikaze warriors not afraid to die for the Fatherland. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela had little trouble in pigeon-holing the enemy - white racism against blacks in the US and South Africa. In this 'Climate Change war' who are the 'enemy'?
If we have trouble identifying the enemy, we do know that the 'enemy' is winning most of the battles for now. Climate Change means that average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius)
around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century's last two decades were the hottest in 400 years. The United Nations' *Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) *reports that 11 of the past 12 years are among the dozen warmest
since 1850. What would these scientific facts mean?
*The effects of Climate Change Third World War*
Sea level could rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 to 59 centimeters) by century's end, according to IPCC's February 2007 report. Rises of just 4 inches (10 centimeters) could flood many South Seas islands and swamp large parts of Southeast Asia. Glaciers around the world could melt, causing sea levels to rise while creating water shortages in regions dependent on runoff for fresh water. Let me kindle your imagination: Bonthe and parts of Shenge in Sierra Leone could go under water; the hug investments in tourism on the idyllic beachfronts in Freetown could be lost forever; Monrovia, and most of the billions of dollars of investment in Lagos city, would be devastated irreparably.
Strong hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, and other natural disasters may become commonplace in many parts of the world as Climate Change gains momentum. The growth of deserts may also cause food shortages in many places. *The fragile economies and political systems of Africa, the dearth of scientific and technological know-how, would NOT be able to withstand the 'enemy's onslaught' - and food relief could not come
from China or US, as they could be faced with food emergencies themselves.* Who is this 'enemy' plotting to wreck havoc on humanity much more cold
bloodedly than Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Osama Bin Laden, Adolf Hitler....all combined?
*Aha!! **'**The Enemy**'** - for Africa, at least*
The March, 2013 edition of *African Business* magazine, titled '*WHO SHOULD PAY FOR CLIMATE DAMAGE**'*, helps to narrow down the 'enemy' - at least, as far as Africa is concerned: "*Do not be misled by the neutral sounding 'climate change' label. It has been proved beyond doubt that human activities, particularly from the heavily industrialized North and Asia, have messed up the earth's climate patterns to such an extent
that the future for many people is nothing sort of catastrophic (!!).
Damage from climate change .... affects every person on the continent and has direct bearing on your income, your health, your quality of life and in some cases, your very existence...." *
Bahijahtu Abubakarr, head of Nigeria's Renewable Energy Programme, referring to Africa's 3% -5% emission rate, is indignant: "*We did not create the problem.....Nor are we being provided with remotely close to
what is needed to tackle it - financial and otherwise..."* Climate Change should stimulate a paradigm shift in global international relations. But, no! The perception of the richest nations that Africa is beggarly...festers. Calculations by ecological economists at institutions like University of California, Berkeley in 2010, based on just six categories - greenhouse gas emissions; agriculture; exploitation of
fisheries; deforestation; ozone layer depletion; and conversion of mangrove swamps - *show that 'rich' nations owe poor nations over $2.3trillion. *The estimates were described as conservative by the authors because they
exclude categories such as freshwater depletion, loss of biodiversity, etc.Under the (Climate Change) Cancun agreement, developed countries
'agreed' to provide USD 30 billion for the finance period 2010 to 2012. Among the billions of climate funds pledged, only a small percentage is reaching Africa. Africa has received about 12 percent of funding for adaptation. Asia - 40%; Latin America - 25%. Again, Africa is the 'men pikin', or, poor cousin, being given the leftovers. Belligerent African thinkers are calling for *'Climate Change reparations...'*
*To listen to the 'slave masters'' intransigence? To do the 'slave
dance'?*
*Jos Delbeke, the European Union's (EC) Director-General for Climate Action*, deflected the issue. He told African Business, "*The concepts of 'ecological costs' and 'ecological debt' are highly controversial. The concept of 'North' versus 'South' no longer holds. (We) need a new legally binding global agreement covering all countries - by 2015 at the latest....* ". Same patronizing song that Africa's 'slave minded' leadership are expected to dance to. Ban Ki Moon said in Freetown during the aforementioned press conference last week that he has invited President Koroma to a big Climate Change conference
of world leaders in September 2014 - including civil society leaders, women and youth leaders. To do what? Another round of 'slave masters''songs
- another frenzied dance by the 'global slaves'? Slavery!!! For over
twenty four years, in Liberia, Nigeria, and here in Sierra Leone, I have developed projects and *ideas that link the Protracted Holocaust of the Atlantic Slave Trade to the thought behind today**'**s Climate
Change*. This is 'another story' really. For now, FORBES' thousand plus billionaires on the planet, the leaders and managers of trillions of dollars economies...must reflect, and take action on, Ban Ki Moon's
profundity: there is "no Plan B"; humans have caused 'Climate Change - and, humans can mitigate it ... - this mandates and end to 'us' versus ' them'; 'slave master over slaves' mentality, rich nations against poor nations....white against blacks.... less
-
The Lungi Bridge Project comes with it some multiplier effects such as the employability of thousands of skilled and unskilled Sierra Leoneans, improving the business environment and activities, attracting international tourism and foreign investments,... moreThe Lungi Bridge Project comes with it some multiplier effects such as the employability of thousands of skilled and unskilled Sierra Leoneans, improving the business environment and activities, attracting international tourism and foreign investments, etc.
Issues like Cost-Benefit Analysis, Return to Capital, Pay-back-time, Net Present Value (NPV) etc would have been dealt with so as to attract investors, which is happening currently.
The problem with some of us Sierra Leoneans is that we're good at criticising and politicing issues, rather than coming up with constructive ideas for development.
It's evident that during the feasibility study stage of the project, experts in Project Planning and Management, Financial Economists and Accountants, Business and Environmental Analysts, Political and Policy Strategists etc of international reputation had chipped in, so as to present an effective report on the feasibility of the project.
Finally, investors from Europe and Asia are impressed with the project proposals, and they are expected to come up with formal bidding proposals.
My view please.
Alfred DeGreat
Twitter Name.
19th June 2019
☝🏾Alfred Syl-Turay in Bondsu Politico Forum
Alfred Syl-Turay:
Thanks for the public relations posture in your posting trying to convince us on the importance of the Lungi bridge.
Can you please guide us through with facts and credible figures?
What do you mean by "employability of thousands of skilled and unskilled Sierra Leoneans"? Where are the "skilled... Sierra Leoneans" to construct a high-tech bridge?
What do you mean by "improving the business environment and activities"? What are exactly the figures on the business environment in the axis of the proposed bridge presently, and how will that be "improved"? Give specific areas of business that will be improved.
I noticed that you wrote "business environment" and not "environment". What is the "environment" that the bridge would move people and traffic from Freetown to. .. Can we get details on the Environmental Impact Assessment of the proposed bridge?
You wrote that the bridge would be "attracting international tourism": are we going to have $2 billion expended on constructing the Lungi bridge to attract international tourists while we are. . Chopping down the forests on the Freetown Peninsula, accelerating soil erosion, and defacing our idyllic beaches? Or, having two million people crammed in the Freetown Peninsula using plastic for every drink, every purchase of Le500 groundnuts... and throwing the plastic all over the place; which flows down to the sea in the Rainy Season to despoil our beautiful beaches?
Syl-Turay you wrote: "Issues like Cost-Benefit Analysis, Return to Capital, Pay-back-time, Net Present Value (NPV), etc. would have been dealt with so as to attract investors..." Phew! That paragraph is meant to impress even the educated elite not into international finance; and to bedazzle the masses. Certainly not to educate the public on whose behalf the bridge is to be constructed. This is typical of the governing elite among Sierra Leoneans, especially economists. For fifty years all their showmanship with intricate economic language have only resulted in worsening poverty for Sierra Leone. How would this not be another white elephant project we are being bamboozled would be good for us?
You wrote: "It's evident that during the feasibility study stage of the project, experts in Project Planning and Management, Financial Economists, and Accountants, Business and Environmental Analysts, Political and Policy Strategists, etc. of international reputation chipped in, to present an effective report on the feasibility of the project". Wow! We are to be impressed. We are to be intimidated. We are not to probe the project BECAUSE all these experts have okayed it, right?
And finally, in his literary theatrical flourish to intellectually threaten even the educated elite, "Alfred DeGreat" wrote..."Finally, investors from Europe and Asia are impressed with the project proposals, and they are expected to come up with with formal bidding proposals". I interpret those words in my
Guru-istic mind thus: 'The gods of Europe and Asia are impressed with the project proposals. It matters not whether Sierra Leonean subhumans raise questions about it". I hope Syl-Turay would have explained this project to the citizenry BEFORE trying to get the gods to buy into it.
As I watched the hoopla over the launch of bidding for the Lungi Bridge these two words keep on ringing in my head: "Mamamah Airport". I wonder why.... 
I pause,
Oswald Hanciles, The Guru.
June 19, 2019
218 hours in Freetown, Sierra Leone less
-
All human problems have human solutions - like the unavoidable problem that is emblazoned in that newspaper frontpage.
The first big step to forging solutions to problems is to admit the problems exist; and to confront them.
In Sierra Leone,... moreAll human problems have human solutions - like the unavoidable problem that is emblazoned in that newspaper frontpage.
The first big step to forging solutions to problems is to admit the problems exist; and to confront them.
In Sierra Leone, successive governments would deny gnawing national problems exist; or, blame the problems on the political opposition; or, blame "global markets".
My conclusion about successive governments, and political parties AND military junta,
in Sierra Leone since the 1980s is that their leadership are not really bothered about solving national problems which severely diminish the livelihoods of the masses. This is so (NOT "could be so"; I am being unequivocal) because most of the Sierra Leonean governing elite are trapped in mindsets of childish egoism - they see their 'success' in earning big pay; building posh mansions; sending their children to study overseas, etc. NOT 'success' in providing leadership to improve the lot of the majority of Sierra Leoneans.
The APC government of former President Ernest Bai Koroma promised the people an "Agenda for Change"; and an "Agenda for Prosperity" - after ten years, it ended with an austerity programme, and the economy that pivoted on the export of iron ore almost crashed as soon as demand of iron ore in China was significantly reduced.
In a BBC interview about a week ago, the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Retired Brigadier Maada Bio, articulated the imperative of economic diversification - away from over-reliance on exploitation of our iron ore, diamonds, titanium, bauxite resources; to tapping our marine and tourism and agriculture potentials. Fine words. Inspiring words. We have yet to see - continually - what is being done to make the President's words tangible reality.
Like using a daily mantra, President Maada Bio has been 'praying' and preaching about harnessing the "human resources" of Sierra Leone, which had been overlooked by his predecessors. Being a member of many social media forums, I am yet to see the Bio Administration's boast in harnessing the human resources of Sierra Leone to significantly address the daunting developmental problems of our country. Most of what I see are information to oil the ego of the President, and his ministers. Or, counter propaganda to the unrelenting propaganda assault of the APC. Time is ticking. .
2023 is not far away. The electorate would remember, and reward or punish, those who made them to eat three times a day and those who didnt...
I hope the "New Direction" leads us towards a new direction of harnessing the most vital resource of Sierra Leone: citizens with knowledge, wisdom, and proven sterling professional experience; potent communicators; moral men - not just those with 'book sense'.
I pause,
Oswald Hanciles, The Guru.
June 19, 2019
13:06 hours in Freetown, Sierra Leone less
-
The Guardian
The urgency of climate crisis needed robust new language to describe it
Paul Chadwick
Changes to how the Guardian writes about climate announced by Katharine Viner prompted a discussion with readers
Sun 16 Jun 2019 14.00 EDT
Share on... moreThe Guardian
The urgency of climate crisis needed robust new language to describe it
Paul Chadwick
Changes to how the Guardian writes about climate announced by Katharine Viner prompted a discussion with readers
Sun 16 Jun 2019 14.00 EDT
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email
Initial reader response was positive to the Guardian’s recent changes to the way it will refer to climate. “This is an epic struggle of ideas, crucial to our future,” wrote one aye-sayer. The announcement by editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, of five changes to the style guide generated reaction in media and science. For each change (in bold below) I asked Viner for her reasons, which follow here in italics. She began by reiterating that “none of the old terms is banned. If in a particular circumstance the original term is clearly more appropriate, then it should be used. But the preference is for the new terms.”
Use climate emergency, crisis or breakdown instead of climate change
Huge-scale and immediate action is needed to slash emissions but they are still going up – that’s an emergency or crisis. Extreme weather is increasing and climate patterns established for millennia are changing – hence breakdown.
Use global heating instead of global warming
Global heating is more scientifically accurate … Greenhouse gases form an atmospheric blanket that stops the sun’s heat escaping back to space.
Use wildlife instead of biodiversity
Biodiversity is not a common or well understood term, and is a bit clinical when you are talking about all the creatures that share our planet.
Use fish populations instead of fish stocks
This change emphasises that fish do not exist solely to be harvested by humans – they play a vital role in the natural health of the oceans.
Use climate science denier or climate denier instead of climate sceptic
Very few experts are, in good faith, truly sceptical of climate science, or of the necessity for strong climate action. Those arguing against it are denying the overwhelming evidence that the climate crisis exists.
An ugent global issue … Extinction Rebellion protest in London on Friday.Photograph: Ollie Millington/Getty Images
Climate crisis seriously damaging human health, report finds
Readers took the discussion further, and I put some of their suggestions (bold) to Viner for her responses (italics).
“Wildlife” is insufficient to describe “biodiversity”
A reasonable argument … biodiversity is not banned, if it’s clearly the best term, then use it … wildlife is a much more accessible word and is fair to use in many stories.
“Carbon emissions” should be “carbon dioxide emissions”
“Carbon dioxide emissions” is technically correct, but a commonly used shorthand, “greenhouse gas emissions”, is even better if we’re talking about all gases that warm the atmosphere, ie including methane, nitrogen oxides, CFCs etc.
Consider “climate instability” instead of “climate heating”
“Global heating”and “climate breakdown” serve the same purpose as “climate instability”.
Not heating, overheating
“Overheating” implies a judgment about how much is too much. I think that judgment is captured by “climate crisis, emergency, breakdown”.
I support Viner’s direction of travel. She is harnessing the power of language usage to focus minds on an urgent global issue. One challenge for the Guardian and the Observer will be to weigh, in specific journalistic contexts, two sometimes competing aspects of terminology used in public debates: language as description, and language as exhortation.
• Paul Chadwick is the Guardian’s readers’ editor
☝🏾Sierra Leone is part of Africa....
Sierra Leone is part of planet earth...
Sierra Leoneans; Africans... are human species... : we operate by the same rules as the Germans, Chinese, Japanese, Americans...
Global warming and man-made Climate Change would affect us like it does other people. Well, it would affect Africans worse than other peoples - less water to drink; less food to eat; more drought; more flooding; more conflicts; more wars...
Sadly, Africans are the least prepared with Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation measures. Why?
Africa's leadership.
Africa's leadership forget too easily the past - they have forgotten the four hundred years of the Atlantic Slave Trade; the about a century of European colonization of Africa. They have even forgotten the 1970s era of coups in Africa; and the 1980s and 1990s era of nasty and brutish civil wars in countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Africa's leadership appear incapable of a vision for the unfolding Climate Change future; they appear unable to shed childish egoism; are puffed up to too easily by demonic egotism - and cannot see that only in UNITY will Africa prevent the nightmarish scenarios being predicted by credible scientific institutions and credible scientists around around the globe. African Unity must grow beyond meetings of Africa's leaders in conference halls.
Sierra Leone must unite with Liberia and Nigeria. Nigeria must see its green interest the same as Cameroon and D.R. Congo and Rwanda. We must mentally bring down the political boundaries carved for Africa at the Conference of Berlin in 1884/1885 - at the end of four centuries of the Atlantic Slave Trade.
Again: no single African country has the resources alone to measure up to the magnitude of the emerging caprices of Climate Change.
Generally, the African leadership luxuriate in affluent neighbourhoods in a few cities. They are cocooned in air-conditioned offices pecking on computer keyboards. They see the future only as how to protect themselves and their families. They care very little for the people they avow to be providing leadership for. We must goad and spur this African leadership into Green Preventative War Mode now - war-type-mode of planting of trees; use of green energy, etc. But that will not be enough...
For one billion Africans, I demand "$2 trillion annually for man-made Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation measures in Africa from the richest nations of the world". It's the only way. The $2trillion sum which will include Reparations for the Atlantic Slave Trade. It will include payment for the rape and plunder of Africa for almost a century by European colonialists.
Join us in the SLAVE SHIP-FREEDOM SHIP movement. Let's sail for FREEDOM - for Africans; for all humanity.
I pause,
Oswald Hanciles, The Guru.
June 17, 2019
03:08 hours in Freetown, Sierra Leone less
-
GREENLOVE 💚💚
We won't forget O!!
What's the update on this fearful destruction of rare genetic materials in our tropical rainforests at Regent in Freetown recently? Speak, Environment Protection Agency (EPA); National Protected Area Authority;... moreGREENLOVE 💚💚
We won't forget O!!
What's the update on this fearful destruction of rare genetic materials in our tropical rainforests at Regent in Freetown recently? Speak, Environment Protection Agency (EPA); National Protected Area Authority; Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; Ministry of Lands and Environment; Sierra Leone Military; Office of National Security; Office of the President....
What's the update on the Lake Sorpon land degradation by Chinese business people in Koinadugu District.
Forests are not esoteric matters that should concern government alone
ALL Sierra Leoneans should know this: Drinking water and food would be severely diminished without these forests - starvation and dehydration would be your permanent partners.
Jobs for youth of employable age who are unemployed would worsen - if more of the forests are destroyed at the pace we are going. That would lead inexorably to VIOLENCE. Civil war.
Be relentless in raising the issues of forest loss.
Monitor everyday.
Speak up tirelessly.
It's your life and your children's life in the issue of FOREST loss in Sierra Leone.
I pause,
Oswald Hanciles, The Guru.
June 16, 2019
107 hours in Freetown, Sierra Leone less
-
And so you can authoritatively confirm that you are right and God is wrong. Your limited human wisdom by your assertion takes precedence over the God who created all things right???? (John 1:1-14)
Perhaps you even know more about how God created the... moreAnd so you can authoritatively confirm that you are right and God is wrong. Your limited human wisdom by your assertion takes precedence over the God who created all things right???? (John 1:1-14)
Perhaps you even know more about how God created the heavens and the earth and can even surpass the prophetic end times revelations that we are truly witnessing even now.
Christianity is the only authentic truth that every religion has tried to distort, replicate and or mimic etc.
Culled from SLAVE SHIP-FREEDOM SHIP Group 2
I don't fully understand your postulates there.
You wrote that I can "authoritatively confirm that (I am) right and God is wrong". That is a statement; though it should have been better as a question.
What words of mine led you to that conclusion?
That raises the question: Who or what is "God"?
If your perception of "God" is limited to Judeo-Christian literature or religious beliefs, who am I to question you? Go ahead! Believe that. I have no outward problem with your beliefs.
What do you mean by my "limited human wisdom"?
Are you arrogant to work on the presumption to know what the "wisdom" of God is?
You wrote thus: "Perhaps, you even know more about how God created the heavens and the earth...". How did God create the Heavens and the Earth?
You can easily and lazily quote the Book of Genesis in the Bible as to how "God" created the Heavens and the Earth. But, hey, struggle to escape from your probable closed mind.
It was less than a blink away in 'Cosmic Time', when Polish astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus, in his 1543-published book, "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres", moved Earth from being the center of the universe to just another planet orbiting our giant sun - our sun about a million times bigger than our planet Earth. Before then, the Catholic church promulgated the belief that planet Earth was the center of all objects in the universe. When, the biblical writers were writing the Bible about 5,000 and 2,000 years ago, they had little idea about the awesomeness of the universe; they had absolutely no knowledge of the 4.6 billion years of the evolution of planet earth...
The human race has come a long way since Copernicus in understanding the awesomeness of "God" in the observable universe. A couple of years ago, cosmologists put the number of galaxies in our universe at about 200 billion - today, using new instruments, scientists are saying there could be up to TWO TRILLION GALAXIES in our known universe!!
Our Milky Way galaxy is ONE of these estimated two TRILLION GALAXIES!!
There are an estimated 200 billion suns in our one Milky Way galaxy. How many estimated planets? We can't say for sure. Planets don't emit light. Rough guesses are that there could be trillions of planets in just one galaxy.
In the observable universe, awestruck scientists say that there could be "700 sextillion" stars (suns).
Allah Akbah ‼‼
God has become more unfathomable. Pope Francis a couple of years ago said that 'science is of God; God is in science'. Those with closed minds tend to think that understanding of science conflicts with understanding of God. It does not. Science make God more awesome; more reverential.
For me, an African, I am appalled at how some people from the West have been peddling "God" to Africans - encouraging the unthinking, the unscientific thinking... while poverty and backwardness festers in Africa.
Believe what you want!! No problem. I only insist on scientific explanation of how the planet earth functions. I only hope to catalyze a Science Renaissance for Africa. If that conflicts with those whose religious beliefs want to keep Africa backward, the perpetual consumer of the emanations of the scientific minds of Asians and Euro-Americans... then, I would lead the fight against your perverse understanding of religion.
I pause,
Oswald Hanciles, The Guru.
June 15, 2019
04:11 hours in Freetown, Sierra Leone less
-
Paul Kamara, former Minister of Sports in the government of President Ernest Bai Koroma; former Minister of Lands and Environment in the NPRC military government of then Brigadier Maada Bio.
Joe, the people of Imperri chiefdom should seek redress for the... morePaul Kamara, former Minister of Sports in the government of President Ernest Bai Koroma; former Minister of Lands and Environment in the NPRC military government of then Brigadier Maada Bio.
Joe, the people of Imperri chiefdom should seek redress for the rape and plunder of their land by Sierra Rutile, and with no tangible benefits or compensation for its pauperized and devastated communities. They not only mine rutile, but other minerals including zircon, illeminite etc. Even the mud is shipped gratis, bcos of its rich mineral content. Rutile operates day and night the two largest dredgers in the world, while workers work for long hours, with poor conditions of service and inadequate medical facilities. As human rights activist, I waged an incessant campaign and worked closely with a son of the soil activist, Leslie Mboka for several years. I was also peeved when the SLPP govt of Tejan Kabbah frustrated Sieromco to shut down their operations, after his govt was restored in 1991 after he fled to Guinea. Sieromco who had suffered greater devastation in its two areas of operations in Moyamba, had requested a waiver for the one million dollars it owed two institutions, for them to kickstart their operations. They owed about US 500,000 to National Petroleum for fuel and the same to Ports Authority as bunker fees. Instead, the govt connived with Rutile owners to sell Sieromco and all its huge assets, comprising over 400 bungalows at Nitti and elsewhere. Heavy machinery worth millions of dollars as well as scrap was sold by Rutile. Rutile used its own subsidiary company Cemmat, run by Andrew Keilie to do the evaluation and all those huge Sieromco assets were bought by Rutile for a pittance of one million dollars, a sum equivalent to the waiver Sieromco had requested from govt. And mind you, Sieromco unlike Rutile was meeting its obligations to govt before the rebel war disrupted its operations, including PAYE, which Rutile owed govt for over a decade, even though it was profitable.
Now, Illuka the new owners of Rutile recently wrote a correspondence to the Paopa chief minister Francis, claiming that they carried out due dilligence before the Rutile purchase. I don't think so. We all are aware the bitter acrimony that followed immediately after the purchase between the owners of Rutile and Iluka over certain shady deals, which scandals soon found their way in the pages of local as well as international papers. It blew up when Illuka terminated a subsidiary company that was owned by John of Rutile, followed by counter allegations and even threats of court action, especially coming at a time when John Sesay bidded for the flagbearer of the APC. Some newspapapers claimed that John sold 30 percent shares in the profitable Rutile company at an artificially low price of 12.3m dollars. The sale itself was shrouded in secrecy, and it was also not a public tender, which in itself smacks of fraud, to say the least. The sale went through, inspite of the law stating, that all govt assets may only be sold at public auction. John's 30 percent shares was valued at 113m dollars, sold under a company called BVI which held his shares. In August 2017, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, that John paid bribes to govt officials in order to acquire mining licenses for Sierra Rutile, and Illuka's lawyers discovered bribes and perks paid out. John however denied the allegations. And that is why the Rutile-Illuka agreement must be thorougly scrutinized, and where possible, renegotiated
A cursory look of that Illuka correspondence to Chief Minister raises certain issues. It is clear that by the time it acquired SRL, it stated that the former boss of Rutile, John Bonor Sesay who is the cousin of President Koroma, is the only one mentioned to have shares, but not the govt of Salone. It is also clear from Illuka, that President Koroma has no shares in Rutile.
But then here comes the twist....Illuka claims that SLR No 3 was a wholly owned subsidiary and it claims, that both President Koroma and John of Rutile have no personal interest in the shares of SRL No 3. But again, the same Illuka is saying, that at the time they acquired Rutile, John held shares worth 1.2m pounds, and that John acquired the shares from govt for 13m dollars.
So what Rutile did was to repurchase the shares held by govt for 13m dollars and the same Rutile turns around to say, that it was under no obligation to transfer these shares to govt, thus terminating the agreement. But with who or whom?
Illuka also states that between 2005 and 2011, an arrangement was reached in which Rutile SRL No 3 transferred shares in SHRL to the govt in lieu of PAYE taxes bcos Rutile could not afford to pay all its taxes from the revenues produced by its operations.
But again a big revelation by Illuka, who claimed that as far as it is aware, and that even though the first amendment provided for up to 30 percent of the shares of SHRL to be transferred by SRL Rutile No 3 to the govt, only 7.085 were actually transferred. And it is also clear, that those remaining shares are owned by John of Rutile or Rutile John.
And subsequently in 2012, the arrangement whereby shares in SHRL were transferred to govt in lieu of PAYE taxes was also ended.
From 2005 to 2011, PAYE owed govt by Rutile was about 8.7m dollars, and Illuka states, that they learnt this obligation has been duly discharged. But again, the same Rutile repurchased the shares for 13m dollars. A game of metarmorphism.
But again, what did Kabbah or anyone else for that matter, do with the EU loan of 25m euros meant to revamp our economy, but which Kabbah said his govt diverted to kickstart Rutile operations? Why did the SLPP moribund a more productive Sieromco, which only needed a million dollar waiver to kickstart its operations, only to bail out a non profitable Rutile, in which a major western financial institution also has a stake? And only for John of Rutile to sell all Sieromco assets for millions of dollars in profit. But what is also of interest in the Illuka correspondence, was their admission that as far as they are concerned, the first Ammendment Agreement related to the 25m euro to the govt, which is on-let to Rutile, was never mentioned by Rutile in the agreement reached with Illuka. So what happened to the 25m euro? Only Pa Kabbah or SLPP govt and John Rutile and Jean Raymond Boulle should tell us as they have some explanation for Saloneans. This is a clear-cut case of frying us with our own oil in our own stew pot. So if the First Amendment agreement was altered not to reflect the EU loan, then to whose benefit?
Now, the other big question...who is behind this SRL Rutile No 1, No 2 and No 3? Of course, John Sesay and Boulle. John Bonor Sesay's father is one of the best diamond evaluators in the world and worked for De Beers for many years. When another De Beers employee, Jean Raymond Boulle from Mairitius hit gold, he formed his own company, and employed John's father. It was Boulle who brought up John, his lawyer sister and a younger brother who is somehow physically challenged. John worked in Boulle's mining operations in Central and other parts of Africa, until the transfer of Rutile to Boulle. John is the key operator and they soon set up several subsidiary companies in their quest to control all the lucrative mining areas in the country. I do not wish to go into further details but to clearly show, that indeed, John and Boulle are the frontmen in this deal that has deprived Salone of any share in Rutile.
I think the present govt should review the Rutile agreement in totality, bcos it is dubious and shrouded in fraud. Illuka also failed to do due dilligence to get all the facts and do background check which they failed to properly conduct, resulting in the manipulation of our Rutile mines by foreign exploiters, in cahoot with their local collaborators. And I also further believe, that the govt must press ahead for adequate compensation from Rutile exploiters, recover our shares and for them to cover all those rivers and gaping ponds and laked scattered all over in the Imperri and other devastated chiefdoms. I hope that this will help you understand somehow the issues at stake and for which I had fought against. But I do not wish to delve deeper than this. Hope this suffices. Bismark.
Paul Kamara:
Thanks for your published accusatory language on Sierra Rutile.
We have to demand that the Minister of Mineral Resources, and the National Mineral Agency, make formal comments on your accusations.
In 2013, I had published in THE OSWALD HANCILES COLUMN the complaints of the people in the area of Sierra Rutile's operations against the mining company, then headed by the cousin of former President Ernest Bai Koroma, John Bono Sisay. I was into my second year as media adviser to President Ernest Bai Koroma at State House.
I pause,
Oswald Hanciles. The Guru.
June 13, 2019
21:12 hours in Freetown, Sierra Leone
Culled from SLAVE SHIP-FREEDOM SHIP Group 2 forum less
-
-
Nigerians, today is June 12
-
Loading ...
There are no more results to show.
