By Abdulai Kargbo
The Sixth Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone has, on Thursday, the 25th of April 2023, endorsed and approved the increment of the Hastings-Masiaka tollgates prices aligned with the report of the parliamentary oversight committee on works and public assets, which Hon. Bashiru Silika leads.
This issue of toll tariff increment has been a topical issue in the public sphere since the start of 2024. This proposal to increase the toll prices, as suggested by the China Railway Seven Group (CRSG), was grossly rejected by the public, considering the impacts this would have on their livelihood. As the people’s representatives, parliamentary leadership through the Works Committee responded by putting a stop to the implications of this proposal and accordingly opened an investigation to see whether there was a justification from the Chinese company and further test whether it is in consonance with the provision in the agreement passed by parliament.
In his submission, the Parliamentary Committee chairman on works and public assets, Hon. Bashir Silkie, stated that this document is a result of nationwide consultations they had with over two hundred civil society organizations who participated wholeheartedly in this formulation. “ Mr. Speaker, I can assure you that this document is a reflection of the views of all relevant stakeholders involved. And as a committee, we have done justice to all players by ensuring we reach an equidistant of the investor, the CRSG, and the beneficiaries, our people”.
For the people, they objected to any possible increment proposed by the CRSG. However, the drivers' union's only concern was category five, seven hundred Leones. Category five in this new document is segmented, and the amount was increased to four hundred Leones and six hundred Leones, respectively, from an initial seven hundred Leones proposed.
Hon. Daniel Koroma from the opposition said the increment is in conformity with section 10.4 of the tolling agreement passed by parliament. And was equally informed by the traffic-based data. He furthered that though this document has been brought to the house, he believes there had been some violations from the CRSG. He stated that the road is yet to be completed. “ the Chinese, based on the air long-standing friendship, should be regularly engaged to see through the completion of the road.” He recommended that there be an alternative road to give options to the people, as that would minimize the impact this would have on them.
In his statement, the leader of government business, Hon. Mather Sam Nyuma, applauded the committee's effort on the good job; he further stated that this increment is in line with the provision in the agreement. “We as parliament should not be seen going against a very agreement that we ratified,” he noted. He further stated that the increment was made based on the publication of the traffic data. “The Chinese want to use the Data to bloat the figure, but we stood our ground and discountenanced their claims.” Though the project is agreed upon and executed in dollars, you can not dollarize the payment”.
Considering the recommendation from Hon Daniel Koroma, he stated that an MOU has been reached with the Chinese, and they have agreed to install traffic lights at the road corridor band street light at some point. He further stated that two markets, hospitals, and motto parks would be constructed along the road. He furthered that all these facilities would be done before implementing the new price on 15 May 2024.
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