Sierra Leone: The Chief Minister of Sierra Leone Jacob Jusu Saffa has urged the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs to champion the National Cultural Festival to promote the various cultures of Sierra Leone and also the construction of the National Art Gallery.
He made this call during a familiarisation engagement with the tourism ministry in order to assess the level of development undertaken in the ministry.
While welcoming the Chief Minister to the Ministry, the Permanent Secretary Andrew Sorie, said it was a pleasure to host the Chief Minister saying that he has got a wealth of experience in both governance and the private sector and that they relied on the skills brought by him to help in the Ministry’s development process. He added that as the Ministry is cleaning the image and building the tourism and cultural sector of the country and also exporting the unique features of Sierra Leone to the rest of the world, they are looking up to the Chief Minister for assistance in getting things done.
According to the Chief Minister the engagement was mainly to understand the role of the Chief Minister and how it works with the Ministry, to understand where the Ministry is with regards key deliverables and also identifying and addressing challenges of the Ministry.
He maintained that the mandates of the Chief Minister includes coordinating, facilitating and to do follow-ups on the mandates of the various MDA’s and ensuring that Presidential decisions and pronouncements are done and to also monitor the implementation of sector policies, strategic plans and annual work programs, because that is where the Ministry will be judged, he stated.
The Chief Minister applauded the Ministry for strides made in the development of the hospitality sector while emphasizing that the strategy for domestic tourism should be intensified and expanded to every part of the country.
In her remarks, the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Memunatu Pratt said she was delighted to host the Chief Minister saying that since she assumed office three years ago, she had been trying to build the relevant infrastructure, policies and legal framework for the sector to thrive, thus the visit of the Chief Minister was a clear manifestation of how they can closely work with him especially in addressing the challenges of the Ministry.
She articulated gains made by the Ministry and shared the challenges faced by the sector. MBJ/15/07/2021
By mohamedj.bah@awokonewspaper.sl