By Saio Marrah
President Julius Maada Bio at the state opening of parliament has showcased his three years of achievements and disclosed his development plans for the country.
Addressing the nation through their representatives in the well of Parliament, President Bio, on Tuesday 18th May 2021, said as most parts of the world were being adversely affected by the COVID-19 Virus, which has claimed so many lives around the world, the government under his leadership has through proactive and leadership skills recorded less casualty rate. “Let me from the outset express our nation's gratitude to our healthcare workers, security personnel, public and private sector workers, civil society and community members, development partners, and everyone who has contributed to making us a low-risk nation’’, the President stated.
He added: “We have achieved this as a result of proactive engagement, rigorous planning, central coordination and thoughtful action that have been informed by data and expert advice. We have leveraged home-built technology solutions. We have also prioritized protecting lives and livelihoods and supported the most vulnerable of our citizens throughout our COVID-19 response.”
He said as the country is now transitioning into vaccination stage, the government will now be focusing on the reduction of maternal and under-five mortality rates recruit and train more healthcare workers and invest in quality mental healthcare. The health sector will also focus on improving patient referral, transportation, blood services, upgrading of medical and diagnostic equipment and upgrading of healthcare infrastructure.
President Bio described human capital development as the only way of making progress as a nation. He said for this reason all should create an enabling environment for every child in the country to have the requisite skills and knowledge so they can realize their full potentials. He said Sierra Leone is now one of the World Bank’s recognized countries for human capital development and his government will make good use of such valuable partnerships to continue to develop the country.
In the area of agriculture, he said as his government is consistent with the National Agricultural Transformation Programme, which he said his government remains committed to for the attainment of food self-sufficiency.
“My Government remains committed to implementing programmes and activities to boost rice self-sufficiency, crop diversification, livestock development, and sustainable forest and biodiversity management,” he buttressed.
President Bio noted that a 54 million dollar project on rice cultivation has already begun at the Rhombe swamps by Agro Elite LLC, a private rice production company in United Arab Emirates. He said a 30 million dollar project by EXIM Bank to develop the water management and irrigation infrastructure for the cultivation of rice is also in the pipeline.
For the educational sector, he said for the first time in the history of the country, more children are now attending school for free and that they are being provided with learning materials, infrastructures, school feeding and buses.
Showcasing the government’s passion for girl -child education and realization of the rights of disabled persons, he said: “We have affirmed the right to education with our policy of radical inclusion that has irreversibly overturned the ban on pregnant girls, championed menstruation health, campaigned nationwide against early child marriage, and provided more support for students with disabilities.”
Responding to so many concerns over the issue of the high wage bill because of the recruiting of more teachers and hiring more school inspectors, he noted: “We are recruiting and training thousands of teachers and hiring and deploying more school inspectors to every district. If training the future workforce of this nation and making it globally competitive is called "raising the wage bill," then that is good for the future development of this nation.”
He said in fast-racking long term quality, the government has developed and validated a Basic Education Curriculum Framework and subject syllabuses and is now developing the Senior Secondary Curriculum Framework. He said his government will revise the Basic Education Policy, the 2004 Education Act, the West African Examination Council Act, and the Teaching Service Commission Act.
Bio disclosed that his foreign travels have now started yielding fruits as University of Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, McMaster University, and the University of Sierra Leone are now all the various partners in the education sector in the country.
To ease the transportation issue especially in the capital city of Freetown, he noted: “Commuters will soon have a large fleet of buses including private sector operators, transit terminals, overpass bridges, bus stops, and a market at Lumley.”
In developing the sport sector, President Bio affirmed that his government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the second phase renovation of the National Stadium and all its facilities to international standards.
Bio Disclosed that due to his government’s fight in achieving gender equality and women’s right, Sierra Leone is now among the 9 countries in the world that are a board members for the Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action Compact. He added that Sierra Leone has also attained the Presidency of the UN Women’s Board, a UN Entity for gender equality and women's empowerment.
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