Since they completed the 120 million dollars Freetown Port expansion project, Freetown Terminal, a subsidiary of Bollore Transport and Logistics Group International, yesterday briefed journalists on their operations within the country.
Speaking at their Freetown Terminal Headquarters in Cline Town, east of Freetown, the General Manager of Freetown Terminal Sierra Leone, Captain Fabjanko Kokan, thanked journalists for their usual support to the operations of the Freetown Terminal especially during the commencement and subsequent commissioning of the project.
He called on the media to always cross check on issues that have to do with the Freetown Terminal before doing their news.
Capatain Fabjanko spoke on the negotiation, signing and commencement of the Port Expansion project in Sierra Leone. He noted that the company has been in the country since May, 1965.
Bollore, he noted, has a similar project in Ghana and moves are also in the pipeline to work with the Ivorian Government to establish a similar project at the French West African country.
The General Manager noted that Bollore Group negotiated a port expansion project with the Government of Sierra Leone in March,2011 to the tune of 120 USD million. This, Captain Fabjanko noted, has seen the massive improvement in the equipment and storage facilities at the Port, making it enviably a hub for the West African sub region.
He concluding by highlighting the massive investment the company is making in the areas of capacity development, medical and insurance provisions for Sierra Leonean personnel.
“Our cranes are worth over US$ 30 million dollars and we have made every effort to ensure through training that Sierra Leoneans are able to operate these cranes with maximum ease,” Captain Fabjanko noted.
Madam Claurinda Morgan, General Manager Human Resources, Freetown Terminal, also gave an update on the Human Resources profile of the company. She disclosed that, within the last five years, the company has been able to increase its staff strength to 322 personnel, with Sierra Leoneans managing six out of the eleven departments in the company.
She disclosed that the company wage bill currently stands at Le1,352 for the least personnel excluding other allowances. Freetown Terminal, she went on, provides a comprehensive medical scheme that provides medical attention to the worker, his or her spouse and four dependants. As at to date Freetown Terminal has spent for 2018 over two billion leones on staff medical.
A lot of courses are designed and rolled out on a regular basis to ensure that personnel are brought up to speed with modern work ethics and practices, the HR manager noted.
Abubakar Sesay, Chief of Operations, in his submission, highlighted the challenges the Freetown Terminal was facing before the privatization of the Freetown Port and explained to journalists the positive impact and the capacity of the Port. He added that the Freetown Terminal now hosts bigger and larger vessels at a very low turnaround time.
He praised Bollore Group for massively investing in equipment, storage facilities, power generating plants and IT systems, which, he noted, have brought the port to speed with others in the sub region.
Edward Kanu, Procurement Assistant, spoke on the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility projects and noted that Bollore has, in the last two years, spent huge resources on supporting cleaning in nearby seaside communities, rehabilitated schools, supported football within the communities and within the environs of the port as well as rehabilitating the Ministry of Transport, etc.
He noted that they have strictly followed the country’s Local Content Policy in terms of hiring suppliers of goods, works and services.
Patrcik Sannoh, Head of Safety and Environment, and Darrell Coker, Documentation Manager, Freetown Terminal, also spoke on their respective functions and achievements for the last two years and how the development of new policies and projects has greatly impacted on staff safety and comportment and the sustainability of the project.
The climax of the press briefing was the playing of a short video on the Port Expansion project by the Infrastructure Project Manager, Abdoul Diop and journalists were later taken on a conducted tour of the new Freetown Terminal by the General Manager.
Freetown Terminal Briefs Journalists on Operations
