By: Audrey John
The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Amb Tamba Lamina has on the 28th June, 2022 ordered all local Councils to stop giving contracts to contractors that are not worth the salt.
Amb. Tamba Lamina gave this directive while representing the Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone on an official handing over ceremony of 22 motor bikes provided by the Road Maintenance Fund Administration (RMFA) to Engineers in the Local Councils for supervision, monitoring and evaluation of road maintenance activities in their localities.
“I’m admonishing all Engineers and leadership of the Local Councils to blacklist contractors that do substandard job when contracts are awarded to them. This is because their underperformance is a disappointment to you, the residents of your communities and the Government as a whole,” he ordered in his keynote address while stating that it’s the responsibilities of the Councils and Engineers to make sure that the contractors perform their duties in line with the goal and scope of the contracts, which is why they should not compromise with those categories of contractors.
Minister Lamina further thanked the leadership of RMFA for capacitating the Engineers of the respective Councils with motor bikes which will ease their movement while monitoring road maintenance activities in their communities, adding that as a Minister who is always with the Local Councils, he knows exactly how important the bikes are to the beneficiaries.
He maintained that even though the Government is contending with so many challenges ranging from the effects of COVID-19 to the repercussions of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine , the Local Councils still keep getting support from the Government and other development partners, citing the “Local Authorities’ Project” that the Famino Municipality in Italy through the European Union had implemented in five Local Councils and the “10 million Euro EU supported funding projects” in five District Councils, amongst others.
He ended up by appealing to the beneficiaries of the motor bikes to use them for the intended purpose and make sure that they are always in working order.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of RMFA, Basiru Sannoh, intimated the gathering about the achievements of the RMFA and the reason why they provided the bikes to the Engineers. Statements from different stakeholders also formed part of the handing over ceremony followed by cutting of the ribbons on the bikes by Minister Lamina.
