By Mohamed M. Sesay (Lucky)
The construction of the Kenemi-Zimmi International Highway leading to Liberia has been abandoned and neglected for decades by government in and government out. The horrendous status of the Kenema-Zimmi International Highway has precipitated the Honourable Member of the Sixth Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone representing locals of Kenema District, ‘Maowoma’ to be specific Hon. Alie Bayoh, to write an open letter to President Julius Maada Bio, to enforce the construction of that terrible road this year.
‘Dear Mr. President, I am writing this letter in proxy to the people of Kenema District and, by extension, MOAWOMA CHIEFDOMS. (pursuant to section 97 (b) of the Constitution of Sierra Leone, ACT No 6 of 1991). I want to make a humble request to you for the construction of the Kenema-Zimmi International Highway Road leading to Liberia this year,’’ he beseeched.
In his letter, Hon. Alie Bayoh appealed to the President that the actualization of his gentle request would be a plausible contribution to the developmental strides made by President Bio’s government towards the rehabilitation of roads and the construction of new ones across the Country. He intimated that he had already engaged the Minister of Works, the Director General of the Sierra Leone Road Authority, the Finance Ministry, NAO, and other quarters on this matter and they have so far been receptive and positive. He said it was in support of such a trajectory that he channelled the voice of his people to President Bio to please help them construct such an economically viable road this year.
Hon. Alie Bayoh informed the President in his open letter that about eighty percent (80%) of the residents of those communities are farmers whose foremost challenge inter alia has been the poor network of this major road connecting Sierra Leone to Liberia. Sir, he said the infrastructure would not only remain a constituent pillar to the Country’s agricultural development which is the basis of the “Feed Salone” project in your 2023 presidential election manifesto and Government’s developmental roadmap, but would also be a source of youth employment.
He furthered that there would be more timely agricultural produce in the markets because more drivers would be willing to ply the route, and the producers would experience a drastic reduction in the amount of perished goods in their stores and at their farms’ gates.
Also, he added that the road serves as an artery through which the social and economic development of Kenema District, in particular, and Sierra Leone, in general, thrive. That is, it connects commerce, students to schools, sick to the hospitals, and workers to jobs in safe, efficient, and sustainable ways. As it is now, he said, the route is not friendly to vehicles, so motorbikes are the common means of transportation, though costly and risky for people, especially school-going children, pregnant women, lactating mothers, businesses, and the sick.
‘His Excellency, Sir, while I express my sincere gratitude to you and the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) for giving me this opportunity to serve my people and Country, I would once more like to reiterate this tender request that you please consider this urgent prayer of our people as a recipe for the social and economic development of our communities’’, he concluded.
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