By Saio Marrah
The government of Sierra Leone has decided to remove duty cost on imported liquefied petroleum gas, a disclosure that was made by Minister of Finance, Dr. Dennis Vandi during his presentation in the House of Parliament, of the country’s new budget for 2022, on Friday 19 November this year.
The move is likely to see a reduction in the price of the liquefied product that would attract more users of cooking gas. Also this could contribute in discouraging the use of charcoal for cooking, thereby reducing deforestation.
“Building resilience for inclusive green recovery” was the theme for the Minister’s presentation and said: “As part of our effort to reduce deforestation through the cutting down of trees, government is removing import duty from liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) in addition to GST already waived,” he said.
He added: “This is expected to reduce the price of cooking gas thereby making it affordable to more households. The policy is also expected to encourage our people to switch from the use of charcoal to gas for cooking purposes.”
Dr. Vandi said climate change is real and that the country has started feeling its effects that range from fire outbreaks, mudslide, and flooding, high temperature and water shortages.
He said Sierra Leone ranks 47th among 181 nations recording high scores for vulnerability, susceptibility and lack of coping capacities on the World Risk Index for 2021.
He told the MPs that besides the establishment of the Ministry of Environment and other entities like Environmental Protection Agency, National Protected Area Authority and National Disaster Management Agency to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change, government is also implementing several projects across Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) to minimize the impact of climate change.
He said the revised 2021 Mines and Mineral Act addresses the environmental consequences of mining activities.
He also mentioned government’s 2020 tree planting project to support afforestation and re-afforestation and contribute to global efforts in reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. The project is targeting five million seedlings of tree crops that include exotic and forest hardwood. The Minister stated that government has also established a Special Fund at the Bank of Sierra Leone into which 10 percent of the royalties on timber exports are deposited to support afforestation and re-afforestation activities.He said government is also establishing a Disaster Management Account to be jointly managed by the Accountant-General’s Department and the National Disaster Management Agency to facilitate rapid response to national emergencies.
He added that to enable financial institutions to access green and sustainable finance, they must meet Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards.
Copyright © Político Online 22/11/21
