By: Mohamed M. Sesay
In fulfillment of President Julius Maada Bio’s undying vision to restore food sufficiency and security across the country, the Project Coordinator of the Regional Rice Value Chain Project (RRVCP) Abdulai Bun Wai and his team, on Friday the 12th of November 2022, commenced bumper harvest in Torma Bum Village, Bum Chiefdom, Bonthe District, Southern Sierra Leone. Similar activity is anticipated to be cascaded in the other project sites of Samu and Mambolo Chiefdoms of Kambia District, North-Western Region as 3000 hectares of farm rice is ready for harvest.
Addressing locals of Torma Bum Village, the Project Coordinator Abdulai Bun Wai, assured them that the Regional Rice Value Chain Project is indeed a breakthrough for food security when the project would have gotten to its advanced stage of implementation. He said the project provides for the construction of 10 Markets Stores in Torma Bum, rehabilitation of 2 storage facilities, procuring 4 Fifteen Tons Per Day Rice Mill, 4 generators 100 KVA each to provide power supply within the project sites. Bun Wai also gave an indelible assurance to the locals of Torma Bum that between now and February, they would install all the machinery needed for the project in Torma Bum.
The Project Coordinator also intimated that they would be constructing 4000 irrigation facilities of which visibility studies have already been done for such construction. He, however, expressed his dismay at the terrible road network but also assured the locals that the project would be the construction of over 30 Kilometres of road within the project locations. Once that is done, he said they would relocate their Office Headquarters to Torma Bum Village.
Bun Wai also assured that once the irrigation construction is completed, the RRVCP would now produce a minimum of 60,000 tons of rice every year. He added that the Torma Bum Project would also provide tremendous job facilities for locals in the village. He also reiterated that between November to December, they would install Integrated Rice Mill. He assured that the product of the rice mill they are going to bring would have no difference from the butter rice made in China. He assured that the RRVCP project has the potential to provide over 2000 jobs for locals within the project locations.
“This is something we can do and we don’t need foreigners to come and do it for us. We can only seek consultation within a sub-region like Nigeria. The New Direction Government is a “TOK EN DO” government which is the more reason the Torma Bum Rice Project is a real one”, said Bun Wai.
Bun Wai also gave glad tidings that the traditional methods of putting rice on the floor to dry would soonest be a thing of the past as the project caters for mechanical dries and they are now at the procurement stage. He also disclosed that they are going to bring in per boilers in synergy with the dries to achieve the best quality rice production.
He concluded by encouraging the locals, especially women to use the par boilers as a business entity as 2 million dollars would be placed in the Apex Bank in Torma Bum so that the women can have access to loans. He also said 50 million dollars would be put into commercial banks to boost commercial farmers and companies that would be manned to sell the rice. He said the 50 million dollars will be a loan but a soft one which gives a longer period to repay.
In his statement of hope to his subjects, Hon. PC Alex Maada Kainpumu, Paramount Chief of Bum Chiefdom, said the Regional Rice Value Chain Project is indeed geared towards addressing food insecurity in the Country. He said Torma Bum has been known as a hub for agricultural activities. Chief Kainpumu made a clarion call to President Bio to start allocating at least 10% of the National Budget to the Agriculture Ministry so that the country can be able to provide enough food. He said it is only when someone is fed that would aid him/her to go to school or even seek medical attention.
Chief Kainpumu also disclosed that the Regional Rice Value Chain Project had had many challenges mainly from the Agro Businesses. He said most people were thinking that the Torma Bum Rice Project is a scam but the just concluded symbolic harvesting has proved them wrong. He assured his subjects that he would always do and support what is good for the chiefdom and for the people and the Regional Rice Value Chain Project is not an exception.
On behalf of Women, Tenneh Barlay, the Chiefdom Women’s Leader expressed support and appreciation for the Regional Rice Value Chain Project. She said they are the true farmers in the village and therefore, encouraged the Project Coordinator to prioritize women in terms of the loan facility. She added that the potential machinery procured under the project is indeed a step in the right direction as such would help ease the hard labor on them.
