By Mabinty M. Kamara
The chairman of the Presidential Infrastructural Initiative (PII), Dr. John Tambi, has told Politico in an exclusive interview that talks are in advance stages for the construction of a new Seaport in Bonthe District. Dr Tambi said a site has already been identified and investors have expressed interest in the project.
The location is in Niti Village and the Strong Hold Finance Group has completed the initial feasibility study, according to Tambi.
This feasibility study looked at the port design, investment feasibility information services that will be integrated with industrial development in the area.
“The project has a visionary approach planned to meet an international and export orientation vision,” Dr Tambi said, adding: “When I started, we created about 21 projects but then, for them to be bankable and attractive enough to the private sector, I had to cluster them into four clusters. The Lungi Bridge is part of one cluster. I have another cluster which is a seaport. We are building a new seaport in the South of this country close to Bonthe. We have done the prefeasibility study, the developer did that. The developer has already done the first phase of the feasibility study. It was completed in December 2019. We are now moving to the contract agreement stage and I’m sure we can start that project this year.”
According to Dr Tambi, the seaport project will cost US$1.4 billion and will have other components like a multi-asset based logistics and industrial free trade Zone about 30km from the seaport, among others.
Bonthe is one of the coastal districts in the country, located in Southern Sierra Leone at the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean. The district is divided in two, mainland Bonthe and Bonthe Island.
Bonthe Island has an integral part of the country’s slavery and colonial history. Historic sites and monuments have been a major source of tourist attraction, in addition to its beautiful and pristine beaches.
Hollywood star, Idris Elba has also expressed interest in developing some part of the island. Elba who has a Sierra Leonean root even visited the island last December.
Tambi said Elba’s project will also be part of a grand design to revamp the beauty of the area and draw in the much needed investment.
“And of course Idris Elba has his own project for Bonthe Island. So all these projects compliment the sea port and like I have said, government has not spent a cent on the project. Even though we are looking for investors to develop, we are not just giving them 100% to develop. We want to make sure that at least we get 25% for the people of Sierra Leone and the government collectively,” he said.
The Presidential Infrastructure Initiative was established in 2018 by President Bio, shortly after taking up office. The office is directly supervised by the office of the president. It has a mandate to plan, design and implement strategic and transformative infrastructural projects that cut across all sectors, using innovative methods of funding, including attracting developers.
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