By Mohamed Vandi in Kenema
The Logistic Manager of OCTEA Mining Company operating in Lower Bambara Chiefdom in Kenema District has disclosed to Politico that the company will not fund a Le 79-million proposal submitted to them by two Members of Parliament in their areas of operation.
Ibrahim Turay said the diamond mining company would only do so after "a proper structure is put in place" for the implementation of the project.
It follows a sometimes acrimonious disagreement between the MPs and the chiefdom authorities.
Turay said the chiefdom authorities and the parliamentarians needed to form a taskforce and other structures for the enabling environment in the fight against Ebola.
"We are ready to support if the right procedure is carried out", he said and described the current spilt between the chiefs and the MPs as "unfortunate".
Two MPs Bernadette Lahai of Constituency 013 and Amara Konuwa of Constituency 014 had written a proposal to the mining company costing Le 79,537,500 million to undertake Ebola sensitisation in their constituencies.
The proposal, dated 10 August, 2014 was written on behalf of the Lower Bambara Chiefdom soliciting fund to conduct chiefdom-wide sensitisation on the Ebola virus.
The Paramount Chief and sub-chiefs frowned at the project and wrote to the company warning them not to honour the proposal saying they and their subjects had no knowledge of it.
As part of its objective the proposal was said to have intended to "inform the citizens of Lower Bambara of the by-laws put in place by the chiefdom".
Turay said they were aware of the Paramount Chief being the custodian of the land hence his involvement in any such venture was crucial as much as the two MPs'.
(C) Politico 16/08/14
