By Mustapha Sesay
Parliament last week ratified a lease agreement between the British company Nectar and the government of Sierra Leone relinquishing handling of bulk cargo operation at the remaining part of the Queen Elizabeth II Port to the firm.
The container section of the port is currently handled by the French company Bolore Africa Logistics. The UK-headquartered Nectar Group will handle the part of the port where bulk cargos like rice and sugar are offloaded, officials say.
Minister of Transport and Aviation, Leonard Balagun Koroma, who tabled the agreement in the House, said when the company starts operation in country the prices of commodities like rice, sugar and salt would go down because there would be a drop in service charges from US$19 to five US dollars.
Koroma said the agreement was done to encourage competition in the running of the port. He said the contract would be reviewed every five years.
The minister also told MPs that the company would employ 60 Sierra Leoneans with only 4 expatriate staff.
The Transport minister further informed the lawmakers that the project would involve the procurement of over US$1M worth of equipment, as well as the construction of a weighbridge with other core structures at the port to enhance the operation of the company.
According to the minister, 20 percent of the project would be owned by the Sierra Leone Shipping Company and he predicted over US$4m annual revenue.
This, Minister Koroma said, was the core reason why the World Bank and other organizations developed the blue print for the National Commission for Privatization (NCP).
Following his presentation, opposition MP from Bo District, Bashiru Sidikie, observed that most often projects were already implemented before ministers present the relevant documents before parliament. He noted that in the present agreement the place of arbitration in case of any disagreement was in London, while the contract was signed in Sierra Leone.
While the agreement was good on the basis that it would be reviewed every five years, it must ensure that Sierra Leoneans do not lose jobs as a result of its deficiencies, MP Sidikie cautioned.
Minority Leader Bernadette Lahai also noted that in as much as the project was opening space for competition at the quay, it must ensure that the community people were benefiting from the operation of the company. She thus pointed out that “the agreement lacks community development projects” and that there was a need for the people in the community where the company was to operate to be aware of the agreement.
“We are not against it but these are our concerns,” she said.
Ibrahim Bundu, Majority Leader, said government properties had in the past been referred to as ‘free for all’ and that that had contributed to vandalism of government properties. He said one of the good legacies of the former SLPP-led government was the establishment of the NCP which had created space for private companies to take over some of the properties and which has yielded much dividend for the government. Bundu however cautioned that the issue of cooperate social responsibility should not overshadow the agreement because the company was bound to pay taxes to the government.
(C) Politico 29/07/15
