Sierra Leone News: Commission of Inquiry CRSG substituted over competitor for 4.4km SLRA road

Business

The former Country Director for BEEGEC TP, Sean Parpah Chendeka, said the Sierra Leone Road Authority terminated a contract for a 4.4 kilometre road in Freetown valued at Le14 billion and awarded it to the China Railway Seventh Group (CRSG) for more than Le17 billion. The Country Director told the Commission of Inquiry (COI) yesterday Monday 20 May 2019, that they are a Sierra Leonean contractor with equipment and expertise but their contract was terminated for a Chinese company. Chendeka recalled that an advert was put out in late 2013 by the Sierra Leone Road Authority (SLRA) for the rehabilitation of four roads including; Mountain Cut, Macauley Street, Kissy Road and Fourah Bay Road. Three companies, BEGEC TP, Guico Press, and CSE bid for the contract. He said they won the bid for the 4.4km road at Le14 billion. The former CD said on 26 February 2014, the Managing Director of Skye Bank in Freetown called and told him that he was been instructed to freeze their company account. There was no court order, the CD said, stressing that on the following day, they received letter from SLRA notifying them about the cancelation of the contract. He said engineers from SLRA including the former DG and board chair and late director of maintenance toured their camp site and warehouse just prior to the contract termination. Chendeka said they took the contract matter before the Parliamentary Committee on Works and the Strategic Policy Unit at State House where former President Ernest Koroma instructed Strasser King to mediate on the matter. He said the matter was not resolved and their account was frozen with an excess of Le400 million illegally withdrawn by the RMFA. He said SLRA did not allow them to do what he described as ‘de-mobilization’ from site before any subsequent contractor took over. The matter was adjourned for Wednesday 22 May 2019 for cross-examination.

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