March 22, 2021
By: Mohamed M. Sesay
In solidarity with the country especially during this Covid-19 pandemic, and on behalf of Diasporas living in America, the Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the United State of America His Excellency Ambassador Sidique Abu-bakarr Wai has on Friday the 19th of March, donated variety of medical gadgets worth over 1.5 million dollars to the Minister of Health and Sanitation Dr. Austin Demby. Among the donated items are beds, wheelchairs, oxygen concentrators, oxygen bottles and matrasses.
During the official handing over of the medical equipment to the Minister at the Government rented warehouse located at PMB Wellington, Ambassador Wai disclosed that when Covid-19 hit the world, United States happens to be the epicenter wherein several Sierra Leoneans succumbed to the virus.
Against that background, Ambassador Wai added that as an Embassy, they received a direct appeal call from President Julius Maada Bio through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Corporation. He said the Embassy responded to the appeal by constituting a team of eminent and qualified Sierra Leonean physicians to constitute a Covid-19 taskforce in the USA which was led by Dr. Michael Rogers.
Having formed the Covid-19 Taskforce, Ambassador Wai further stated that they also recruited some members of the consuls, Community Leaders, grassroots organization and ordinary people living in the United States which led to the energizing of the Sierra Leone diaspora constituencies throughout the United Stated. He said they had organized virtual meetings and solicitations that resulted to purchase of those medical items for Sierra Leoneans.
“The U.S government did not donate this. It is the work of ordinary Sierra Leoneans in the Diaspora that solicited these items from entities. In fact, this forty foot container that came here was mobilized by Hon. Consul Kawa who went as part of this intervention to reach out to his friends, other corporate entities as well as people here in Sierra Leone to contribute so they put together this forty foot container that is now here. The forty foot container that we sent is over 1.5 million dollars in terms of monetary value”, Ambassador Wai averred .
Ambassador Wai further expressed ing his gratitude to the Minister of Health Dr. Austin Demby for keeping the donated items very safe up to this moment.
He said that act in itself shows that the Honorable Minister and other in-charges of the Warehouse, give assurance and hope that Sierra Leone is on the right track in terms of building public trust.
He added that he could now go to the Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora and tell them that what they mobilized, and what they sent was delivered to the intended people. He also said that the good handling of the donated items would further inspire the spirit of support solicitation and mobilization on behalf of the people of Sierra Leone.
Receiving the donated items from Ambassador Wai, the Minister of Health and Sanitation Dr. Austin Demby felt very elated and described the donation as very timely. He added that the donated items are intended for Covid-19 preparedness and also said the items are durable goods which could not only be used for Covid-19, but also for the overall healthcare delivery system. Dr. Demby assured that everybody would benefit from the donated items especially the beds, wheelchairs, oxygen concentrators which are items that derive universal benefit across the country.
Dr. Demby however noted that, they would be very mindful during the course of distributions because he said, sometimes some hospitals might not need a particular gadget at a particular moment, and most hospitals might also not have the physical space to keep those gadgets. He added that the Ministry would ensure to have a system in place by announcing that these items are available and therefore, any hospital that shows interest for any of the items, then the Ministry would also work with the District Medical Teams and hospital superintendents to deliver the items across the country.
Dr. Demby also expressed dissatisfaction over government rented warehouses adding that, the government and development partners mostly the Global Fund spend about half a million dollars a year as rent fees for the five government warehouses. He continued that his ministry is trying to put a case to the government and development partners that the warehouses are not temperature controlled during both the raining season and the dry season. He used the occasion to stress the need for government owned warehouses, which are temperature controlled and capable of storing consumables, hardware and software commodities.
He concluded by assuring the Diasporas that the donated commodities are needed in the country and that, the ministry would distribute them according to the need of the people. He observed that, the country has over twenty-six hospitals which are in different stages of need and that the ministry would visit those hospitals and identity their needs.