Executive Director for Native Consortium Edmond Abu Jr gives five-point plans in striking a trade-off between life and livelihood in the fight against COVID-19 of which, these pointers will help to meet their demand in Trade-off between saving lives and Livelihood.
He started by thanking the Central Government, EOC, the frontline medics, Security forces and all other actors in the fight to beat COVID-19.
He stated that to take the queue from their first report based on the current situation, they firmly believe that any lockdown beyond 3 days is untimely and would pose a great threat to livelihood.
He further commended the Government efforts in striking the balance between saving lives by beating the pandemic and that of livelihood. We recommend that the inter-district lockdown should continue after the 14 days and the curfew eased starting from 10 pm to ease the rush in transportation during rush hour which, invariably defeats the physical distancing measure(s).
The Special Credit Facility for Covid-19 Pandemic lacks financial inclusion as it excludes the informal Sector: We want to commend the Trade Ministry for this bailout/rescue package for businesses, he said and stated that their Think Tank has carefully cross-examined the conditions attached to this loan scheme.
We want to remind the Trade Ministry and the Central Bank that only 9% of Sierra Leoneans have functional Bank account according to research. Almost 95% of indigenous businesses don’t operate a functional business account. Access to capital and the high-interest rate has made the business environment very hostile to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), he cautioned.
He cited that the conditions set for these loans are groundless for small Sierra Leonean Businesses and do not serve in the best interest of financial inclusion and that his organization is calling on the Trade Ministry through the Central Bank to think out of the box and remove some of the bureaucratic conditions and institute favourable conditions that attract the informal sector albeit minimise credit risk. We want to submit that our Think Tank has a model we hope to sit and recommend to the Trade Ministry so that this scheme can target Sierra Leonean SMEs, he pointed.
He continued that Fuel Price Reduction in the world market plummeted to $ 11 per barrel, stating that his organization demand for a further reduction in pump Price from Le 7,000 to Le 5,000 per litre.
He said the Coronavirus has led to the shutting down of businesses and the lockdown has drastically reduced demand for fuel thereby leading to a price reduction to all-time low and therefore, call on the Trade Ministry to further reduce the pump price to nothing more than Le5, 000 per litre which, will reflect on the fall in transport price and further reflect on commodities and services.
He pointed out that the reduction in Telecommunication tariff on Voice & Data Reduction in Telecoms tariff at a time like this is not only a livelihood issue but will greatly enhance social distancing measures instituted by the government.
We have brought court action against NATCOM because we firmly believe NATCOM acted ultra vires of section 52 to 55 of the Telecoms Act No 9 of 2006 as amended. We are still calling on NATCOM to save itself the embarrassment by giving the people the all-important free calls, bonuses and promos which serve as an incentive to stay at home, he warned.
He mentioned that scaling up the Security forces to Police the Border crossing points saying that the Native Consortium Volunteers continue to monitor the border crossing points.
According to him the confirmed cases in Guinea seems to be swelling, businesses between Sierra Leone and Guinea at the Yenga crossing point appears normal which, we think should be discontinued as it undermines the restriction measures. We also observed that Gbongbokoro and Kaadu crossing points in Kono District, Gbindi in Koinadugu District, and other crossing points are relatively loose. He started.
