There is an urgent need for the new Government to prioritize the effective regulation of sea transportation, which is in a very bad shape.The sector, over the years, has been plagued with rampant corruption and impersonation of foreign vessels of our national flag.This is the order of the day.
It is no longer news that the country’s name was dragged into disrepute in the last ten years,as some of these foreign vessels were either repeatedly caught with weapons or fishing in prohibited areas.Thesenegative actions have not escaped the international media causing embarrassment for the government and its people.
Subsequent heads at the SLMA have been pocketing the proceeds from this unholy game at the expense of the state.
This state of affairs had prompted series of questions from both the media and general public.The process, leading to the awarding of our flag to foreign vessels,was questioned by many, including penalties for those foreign vessels that may want to indulge in nefarious activities with our national pride (the green, white and blue).
These questions have remained unanswered throughout the AlhajiWurroh reign at the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration.
This stateof embarrassment could also be compared to what is now general knowledge with our passports, which have increasingly fallen in the wronghands over the years.
Even here, at home, we have witnessed a bastadization of our diplomatic passports, which, in the last ten years, have been given to all sorts of people.It is now very worrisome to note that as a people we can no longer preserve our national pride as Sierra Leoneans. Nigerians,Chinese and other nationals have been caught with Sierra Leonean passports in several international airports across the world.
It is against this backdrop that every effort should be made by the new Government at the international front to create sanity in the sector.As it stands, Sierra Leoneans will continue to face embarrassment at different places in the world regardless of the change of government at home. So it is never an issue that should be looked at with a political lens.
As Sierra Leoneans, we have the right to know how many foreign vessels are carrying our national flag and what are the established procedures for doing so?What is government accruing in the sector with regards revenue generation? And what penalties and fines will be levied on foreign vessels that drag our country into the mud, attract?
The sector has also not only concerned itself with regulating international sea transportation but also most importantly concerned with local sea transportation.
In the recent past,Sierra Leone has recorded very disastrous sea accidents leading to the loss of lives.Regulation of local sea transportation has been plagued with lack of adherence by fishermen to the use of safety gears while on sea,late movement on sea and overloading,etc.
Movement to and from Lungi, which is the shortest route to the country’s only international airport, is also miserable as the ferries plying those routes are very old and dilapidated.
A huge number of Sierra Leoneans ply this route on a daily basis to find their living, either as airport workers, school children, politicians or market women. Nothing has been done,over the years by successive governments since the war ended, to replace these old ferries with new ones.
There have been several reported incidents of these ferries being drifted off their landing and departing venues enroute to and from Lungi with a huge number of passengers and vehicles.This has not even prompted any strong action from the authorities.
It is shameful to note that foreigners have taken advantage of the inherent risks in travelling with these ferries and have invested heavily in the sea transport sector. They haveprovided alternative means of transportation to Lungi,even though this is exclusively used by the rich and the political class due to the cost involved.
As it stands, it is very imminent that the poor will one day face the brunt of any potential accident on sea as they continue to ply with these rotten ferries.
We will require a new direction towards changing the story around the sector.The effective regulation of this sector will equally also raise the much needed revenue for government, while also eliminating the chances of further plunging the country’s name into the mud.
The present leadership at the SLMA should be able to provoke the necessary legal and administrative changes to make things happen.