By Mabinty Kamara
The World Bank country manager, Parminder Brar, has said the Sierra Leone government needed to do more in terms of developing its citizens. He said so at the launch of the second phase of the country’s post-Ebola recovery programme, dubbed the President’s Recovery Priorities (PRP). The event was staged in the northern town of Magburoka on Monday.
The PRP is the continuation of the ERP [Ebola Recovery Programme] initiative. In it the government is planning to revive sectors like education, health, energy and agriculture, among others.
This second phase of the document is set to be implemented from now till mid 2017.
“Sierra Leone recorded more economic loss than any other country that was affected by Ebola,” Brar said during the program.
He however praised the country for its effort in going this far in the recovery process, but urged the government to embark on more developmental initiatives that could affect the lives of Sierra Leoneans.
In 2014, Sierra Leone was hit by the deadly Ebola epidemic that claimed thousands of lives and sectors like health, education and the economy were seriously impacted negatively.
President Ernest Bai Koroma acknowledged the work that his government had done with the first phase of the post-Ebola recovery initiative, but admitted that there was still more work to be done for the economy to recover fully.
Since the turn of the year, the country’s currency, the Leone, has taken a free fall against the dollar and this has invariably affected many businesses and services across the country.
Mr Bra commended the efforts of the private sector so far in ensuring the economy gets back to its feet. According to World Bank figures, only 1% of Sierra Leone’s 7 million population are part of the public sector. For this reason, he stressed the importance of the government to get them on board whiles going forward.
“It is important for the government to see the need of improving the private sector in the country,” Brar said.
Sierra Leone has had a perennial problem with food insecurity; the inclusion of agriculture in this latest recovery plan has therefore impressed the World Bank boss.
“Concentrating on Agriculture will bring everlasting change in the development of the country. 30% of the population lived in the city, the rest of the 70% are in the provinces living in poverty. But if agriculture is developed in the country, that gap will be bridged,” Brar said.
He provided tips on key areas that the government must focus on in achieving benchmarks like food security.
“The government should focus on providing certified seedlings, feeder roads so that farmers can easily take their goods to the market. Agricultural extension quarters and imported fertilizers must also be provided.”
However, perennial problem like land acquisition would pose a stiff challenge to the development initiative to agriculture as a sector. Female farmers who are mostly disadvantaged have advocated for a very long time for the country’s land tenure system to be reviewed in some parts of the country.
Many citizens hope that this document is a true reflection of the country’s needs. In ensuring this, President Koroma revealed that thorough consultations were done at all levels to diagnose the problems that should be targeted by the second phase of the document.
If everything goes to plan, the document is targeting to boost the economy by creating 10, 000 new jobs in sectors like agriculture and reduce mortality rate in the country by saving the lives of at least 600 mothers and 5000 babies by 2017.
Over the decades, Sierra Leone has seen its fair share of documents been developed and launched. Many will hope that this one would provide realistic results that could affect the lives of the ordinary people.
(C) Politico 22/06/16
