The Acting General Manager of the Sierra Leone Ports Authority, Mr. Yankuba Askia Bio, has called on the government through the Ministry of Finance to look at the possibility of releasing fifty percent of funds from the Concession fees of Le 70 billion generated annually and royalties from private Port operators to the government.
The Acting Ports General Manager made the appealed while addressing the just-concluded budget committee hearings in Freetown.
He added that his management badly needs this quantum of money paid by Port Private Operators to be paid to the Authority to carry out major infrastructural projects and thereby meet the expectations of government’s agenda for a transformed Port.
The Acting GM’s presentation at the budget hearings featured pictorial slides of the port facilities including the Ferry Terminals, the berths at the Freetown Port, Kissy Oil Jetty, Huge capital-intensive projects and other major infrastructure which are ruined due to age and badly in need of maintenance.
He recounted that due to the huge financial costs of rehabilitation the Port management cannot finance these projects.
The SLPA’s budget showcased the institutional profile and area of control, the Authority’s contributions to the consolidated fund, expenditure, sources of revenue, projected statement of cash flow, projected statement of financial position, summary of capital investment and challenges.
The budget was designed to promote the corporate image of the Port and ensure that it can be compared to other ports around the world; increase revenue generation in Ports operations; eliminate micro and macro wastages and leakages in managing the Ports; improve customer service delivery in Ports operations; and develop Ports infrastructure and build capacity of staff.
Chief Accountant, SLPA, Mr. Malcolm Leigh, told the committee that despite the fact that SLPA contributes Le70 billion annually to GDP growth, the Government of Sierra Leone also has 20% shares in the operations of Freetown Terminal Limited (FTL).
According to the revenue figures for 2020, the authority will source its funds from Marine Services, Stevedore (Liquid Bulk), Container Terminal, Break Bulk and Marine Slipway Throughput Fees.
The Budget hearing Technical Committee, CSOs and other non-state actors commended the management of SLPA for its presentation and promised to make a follow-up on their appeal for government’s attention on major capital-intensive maintenance on Port facilities.