MoPED Conference Hall, Tower Hill, Freetown, 5th February 2021— The Minister of Planning and Economic Development Dr. Francis Kai-Kai today held a meeting with a visiting ECOWAS Delegation and Members of the National Project Committee (NCP)- a Task Force established for the ECOWAS Logistics Depot to deliberate on the status of the ongoing construction now at phases 2 and 3 of the ECOWAS Logistics Depot in Lungi, Sierra Leone.
The meeting was convened at the MoPED Conference room to deliberate and address issues relating to the furtherance of the construction work, removal of all bureaucratic impediments that normally get in the way of such multi-lateral and inter-governmental initiatives. The meeting was used as an opportunity to also reaffirm Government’s commitment to the process as well as to suitably facilitate the necessary actions with the view of ensuring the targeted date for the completion iof the project is not missed considerably.
In his remarks, Dr Francis Kai-Kai used the opportunity to emphasize the importance of the facility to Sierra Leone and the subregion; he further stated that, the choice for the location of the depot in Sierra Leone was to demonstrate the country’s ability in managiong such project, when completed.
Dr. Kai-Kai assured the delegation of the Bio-led government’s firm commitment to the project, noting that the implementation of the depot was part of fulfilling the ECOWAS ideals, objectives and vision of which Sierra Leone continued to uphold and had participated in formulating. He said the depot would contribute to the peace and stability of our sub-region.
Minister of Water Resources, Philip K. Lansana, in his statement, said since they were approached last year for the construction of the depot, he had sent a team to do an assessment for the provision of water facilities at the site. He said the Ministry of Water Resources had submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Finance to provide funding for the installation of water to the site, which would cost over 1 billion Leones.
In his statement, the Commissioner in-charge of General Administration and Conference, ECOWAS Commission, Vafolay Tulay noted that the logistics facility was timely and a very important project for the region’s peace support operations. He said the Commission was excited to be working with the Bio-led Government to making sure issues were identified and resolved in enhancement for the smooth execution of the project.
As you may be aware, On the 14th September 2019 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio called on Heads of States and Governments of ECOWAS member states to speedily ensure that the Construction of Phases 2 and 3 of the Logistics Depot at Lungi for Peace Support Operations.
The deliberations addressed were centered around tax exemption for SOGEFEL to import construction materials, building permit to start construction in Sierra Leone, environmental policy for building construction, provision of electricity by Government of Sierra Leone to the Depot site and COVID-19 clearance for movement of SOGEFEL construction vehicles among others.
Other dignitaries in attendance included: The Deputy Minister of Defence, ECOWAS Commissioner for Peace and Political Affairs, Chief of Staff for ECOWAS Standby Force for West Africa, The Development Secretary and Members of the National Project Committee on ECOWAS Depot.
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