The National Social Security and Insurance Trust is set to implement a turn-key project that will deliver five blocks of standard student hostels, with full ventilation and furnishing, for five higher educational institutions in Sierra Leone, including Fourah Bay College, Eastern Polytechnic, Milton Margai College of Education, Science and Technology, Njala University College and the University of Makeni, respectively.
This disclosure was made in Freetown by NASSIT authorities during a one day seminar organized for newspaper Editors and Radio Station Managers.
The project is expected to deliver 1,080 rooms to each of the five institutions, and NASSIT will have an agreement with the educational institutions wherein the Trust will bear the construction.
When completed, the property will be managed by a management company in a joint venture agreement between NASSIT and the institutions. The agreement will also require a lease rent waiver where the two parties will receive dividends at the end of each year.
Newsmen were informed that survey plans have been signed and released by the Ministry of Lands. In fact, NASSIT is on the verge of engaging the five various institutions with a view to sign the agreement.
The services of engineers, for geotechnical investigations to determine the foundational designs, have also been done.
The project has been described as very laudable and many say it is one of the most purposeful projects ever undertaken by the Trust. NASSIT is moving towards addressing a huge felt need for Sierra Leone’s higher educational institutions, which also resonates with the President’s flagship project of education.
The one day seminar for journalists, which is a novelty in the history of the Trust, was organized by senior management in order to bring journalist to speed with the functions of the various Departments and Units as well as its investment portfolios.
Detailed presentations were done, on the activities of the benefits Division, Scheme Operations and the Trust Investment in Equities, by the respective heads of these Departments.
The Director General of NASSIT, Mohamed Fuad Daboh, in an earlier presentation, noted that the press briefing is not the normal press conference the Trust used to organize, but it is a special one meant to deepen the knowledge of journalists about the operations of the Trust.
“As partners, it is our firm belief that we should arm you with enough information about we do and why we do what we do, so that you can in turn help us disseminate this information to our membership in particular and the public in general,” the DG noted.
The DG used the occasion to update journalists on the status of his various projects, such as improvements to the operations and benefits payment, which, he noted, are very close to his heart.
He concluded by giving an update on the recently conducted technical audit report on the Trust and the subsequent publications of its findings, noting that they have appeared before the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament to make clarifications on the issues raised in the report. He assured all that they, at NASSIT, are fully complying with the instructions of PAC and await the outcome of the Committee’s findings.