The head of Infrastructure of the European Union Sigvard Bjork has told journalists in their Leicester Peak office on Tuesday that the infrastructural development projects undertaken by EU are fully on course with success.
He said they have concluded the contract for the last phase of the Conakry Highway, and it was done at the end of last year with the work on-going.
The work started in March this year and it has been going on for the past six month and it will be ready in Mach 2011. He said “this contract also includes a single boarder post for both Sierra Leoneans and Guineans”.
The Bo- Masiaka highway is now on the final stage with only five or six months left and then it will be completed and this is going according to the time plan.
Mr Bjorck said the Songo-Moyamba junction road is still on-going and it will go on for at least eight months. He said it will not be much of a problem because the traffic does not generate enough to make it economically viable, so it will not be paved.
Also the ongoing feeder roads programme that is going on in four Districts with eight different local contractors for rehabilitating feeder roads, and these are also on-going and they will come to an end by February next year.
The new financing programmes are on course and they have received the design for the Bo-Bandajuma road that is the continuation of Masiaka-Bo highway.
Also the Makeni – Kabala is another project along with rehabilitation of bridges that are narrow on these roads as it will make them better for the safety and free flow of traffic.
For Freetown the Head of Infrastructure said they have the Freetown Development Plan and they will try to identify projects that they will finance. One such project will be the urban roads which they have to design and hope it will start early next year.
“We have certain projects for the slums that we will do parallel with the major projects”. He said they are working with City Council and upon receiving the Freetown development plan, they will take care of where the people will live, building schools, hospitals and energy, but made it clear that this project will be done in due course when all the modalities are worked out.
By Betty Milton
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