By Alpha Abu
The Sierra Leone Integrated and Resilient Urban Mobility Project Manager, Umaru Katta has explained to journalists that the project which is to see a regulated and improved transport system and the provision of road safety facilities in parts of the Western Area is on course.
Katta who made a presentation of the project during the weekly press conference at the Ministry of Information and Communication in Freetown on Thursday 17 June 2021, indicated that the initial aspects of the project’s implementation were being addressed and that the entire project would be completed within the stipulated timeframe.
He said there will be major road improvement in the project corridors running from No. 2 River in the west and through the central business district, Kissy Road, and onto Jui in the east. Katta stated that pedestrian sidewalks are to be reconstructed that could prevent flooding and bus stops, footbridges and traffic lights erected along the way.
He however said that installing the traffic lights would be on a pilot phase and will be limited to key intersections at Congo Cross, Murray Town Road, and Aberdeen Road. The footbridges are to be constructed at Jui, Kissy Shell, Wilberforce and Lumley, and Hybrid Street lights erected that can operate through solar or power grid.
According to Katta, traders doing business in the central business district will have to be moved into the Victoria Park market structure while those in the Lumley area would be relocated to a new facility close by the Golf club property. He said they have struck a leasing arrangement with the property owners. He emphasized that their focus is to improve access to public transportation and create an ideal situation where more people will be moved than cars which could help in reducing carbon monoxide.
According to the project coordinator, the old main Bus station in the central business district would have to be rehabilitated and a car park built.
He disclosed their partnering with the Kwame Nkrumah University in Ghana whose transport experts are presently assisting in the training of Sierra Leoneans in the Ministry of Transport and Aviation on transport management.
The project which is to see the importation of buses that have been well sourced to fit the demands of the environment is expected to see the regularisation of the entire public transportation system that would also involve tricycles, bikes, and private buses. The World Bank provided $50 million for the project with the government putting $2 million into it as well.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (18/06/21)
