By Mustapha Sesay
The parliamentary oversight committee of Labor on Monday embarked on an over sight visit of a 107-acre land, the subject of a conflict between the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) and the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning.
The piece of land located in Waterloo was given as grant to NASSIT in 2005 for the purpose of building affordable housing, the director of Investment at NASSIT, Dr. Brima Baimba Kargbo, said.
Since NASSIT acquired the land, it has started a pilot project of constructing two and three bed room flats which were mortgaged by HFC Mortgage Bank at $35, 000 each for the three bed rooms and $25, 000 each for the two bed rooms, Kargbo explained.
NASSIT has similar housing projects in Bo, Kenema and Makeni.
Gerald Coker, the Trust`s resident engineer, explained to the parliamentary committee at the project site in Waterloo that they were faced with series of challenges ranging from land grabbing to lack of water and electricity.
The problem, the engineer went on, was that the Ministry of Lands was allocating parts of the same piece of land to other people, which he said was contrary to the grant agreement. Coker said they made effort to dig bore holes for the supply of water at the project site and that they were in consultation with the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority for power supply.
Dr. Show Showyer, member of the parliamentary committee, expressed disappointment that keys to the buildings were not available to allow them inspection the inside of the structures. He blamed NASSIT for that, describing their action as impediment to their work.
Other members of the committee raised concerns over the price of the houses and also for the lack of certain facilities like dining rooms.
Later, the committee was joined by officials from the Ministry of Lands who informed the members that the lease agreement between NASSIT and the ministry had been terminated since 2013. Tamba Dauda, senior land surveyor, showed a letter to the MPs indicating the termination of the agreement. He said copy of the document had been given to NASSIT since then.
Mr Dauda cited the failure of NASSIT to develop the land within reasonable time as key reason for their decision to terminate the agreement. He however admitted that the ministry had sent surveyors to the land and even deployed OSD police officers to guard it, but denied allocating any part of the piece of land to any other individual.
Dr. Kargbo argued that the agreement between the ministry and NASSIT was not on lease terms but rather a grant, and therefore said it cannot be reversed. He further noted that they had made effort to put structures on the land and that they were also in consultation with overseas companies from Italy and Belgium to finance the project.
The head of the Labour committee, Dr. Foday Suma, said they would discuss the issue later with both parties.
The committee also visited HFC Mortgage Bank to find out about its composition and their relationship with NASSIT. It was revealed that the bank was 98 per cent owned by NASSIT and that all members of its board of directors were appointed by the Trust.
HFC Bank was established with the help of Ghanaian expertise.
Its managing director, Ahmed Bakarr Kamara, explained to the committee members that they have over the years provided over 500 mortgage facilities to Sierra Leoneans.
Kamara said HFC had also undertaken a lot of development projects as means of generating profit for the bank. He said they had bought lands at Bathurst, Gloucester, Hill Station and Charlotte villages. He noted that they were already constructing affordable villas on those lands which would be sold to the public.
The Labour committee chair, Dr. Suma, told the HFC boss that he should ensure that all NASSIT monies invested were safe and yielded dividend for the Trust`s contributors.
The committee would continue with its oversight visit on Tuesday.
© Politico 14/04/15
