September 24, 2021
BY MOHAMED M. SESAY
In the ongoing 2022 budget hearing at the Ministry of Finance, the Executive Director of the National Protected Area Authority (NPAA) Joseph Ranto Musa, has yesterday the 23rd of September 2021, vehemently decried the 1.9 billion Leones budget ceiling saying it is infinitesimal for their operations and therefore, proposed 8.2 billion Leones to the Ministry of Finance as their annual budget for the fiscal year 2022.
The Executive Director of the National Protected Area Authority Joseph Ranto Musa disclosed that the Authority did not receive money from government for 2021 which he considered as a very huge setback in terms of their operations. He explained that their job is too much covering the entire five hundred thousand hectares.
As part of the constraints of NPAA, Director Musa highlighted that they lack vehicles and other logistical supports to do their jobs especially during the rainy season.
“We don’t have vehicles and other logistical supports. During the rainy season we don’t have rain boots and rain gears to do our jobs. Most of this time nobody goes to work because you will not expect our game rangers going to the forest without rain gears. We don’t have vehicles for patrolling which is also part of the constraints we are facing”, he said.
Direct Musa therefore, encouraged government to increase their annual budget ceiling so that they can work effectively. He also intimated that they are working with other development partners in ensuring that they protect the water catchment areas and other places in the hinterland. He noted that the country’s Marine Ecosystem is fast diminishing because people are just building houses anywhere which he considered as a grave concern. He furthered that in their untiring efforts to protect the country from disaster, it has prompted them to ask government to increase their budget ceiling to five billion Leones.
In her presentation, the Park Manager of the National Protected Area Authority Bintu Sia Foray-Musa, reaffirmed that for the fiscal year 2021, they did not receive any fund from government from January-June 2021. She added that most of the projects implemented were out of their partnership and other donor supports. He mentioned that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been particularly supporting most of their activities especially community engagements.
She continued that they want to upgrade the Forest Management Plan but noted that the only way they can succeed in the forest management will be through community supports.
She also disclosed that the NPAA has a workforce of over eight hundred staff including the rangers and senior staff. She said the NPAA is seriously constrained with the one billion budget disbursed by government. She also expressed that they will not be able to manage over eight hundred workforce of the Authority with just one billion Leones. She concluded by encouraging government to consider their proposed budget so that they can effectively execute their functions.