October 25, 2021
Officials from the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs (MTCA) and the National Tourist Board (NTB) have in their Sustainable Tourism Development and Promotion Project (STDPP) with support from the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Tier (2) Project conducted monitoring and assessment exercise of the construction of eco-lodges and nature trails at Wara Wara Mountain in Kabala.
The monitoring and assessment visit aimed at ascertaining work done thus far on the various sites under the project (Kabala, Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary and Banana Island) and how officials from the tourism sector can proffer expert advice and recommendation to achieve the desired result.
The project manager of the implementing entity, Falaba and Koinadugu (FALKOIN), Richard Marrah confirmed that they received 79,250,000 Leones from NTB which he said was used to undertake the following; purchase of start-up tools for the clearing and preparations of the sites and setting up of the district project monitoring team, brushing of two nature trails, hiring of a consultant to survey and design the three eco-lodges to be constructed at wara wara mountain, sensitization of the communities around wara wara hills about the importance of maintaining the hills and it economic benefits and engagements with community stakeholders and paramount chief were also held, he told the visiting team.
Proffering suggestions and recommendations, the Deputy Director of Tourism, Idrissa Bangura said development must be inclusive with sincerity of purpose while urging them to show tangibles of work done. The Planning and Development Manager of NTB, Umaru Woody said the purpose of the visit was to know whether the money was well utilized towards the project with empirical evidences. The Admin and Human Resource Manager at NTB, Cyrillia Wilson said she was part of the team particularly to ascertain whether due processes were followed in accordance with EIF guidelines. She called on them to put their filing systems in place to avoid anomalies during audit.
On route to the wara wara hills where the eco-lodges would be constructed, the team ascertained that the road leading to the mountain was brushed and saw the identified sites where the nature trails would be situated.