As they work on the maintenance of four broken down ferries, the General Manager of the Great Scarcies and the MV Mahera Ferries, Alusine Daramy has disclosed to this medium that by ‘this time next year, no ferry may be able to run through the Kissy Targrin route.
He made this disclosure while he was responding to questions on the present condition of the ferries on Thursday 23rd June at the Kissy Ferry Terminal in Freetown. The GM said they are facing a lot of challenges but one major problem according to him is that the ferry route has become very muddy which is causing a lot of problem on the ferries. “What we need now is for this place to be dredged. The ferry route has become muddy, this point to fisheries is covered with mud. When the propeller turns what you see is mud water coming up which shows that the route is not deep”, he explained noting that as the months go by the mud which comes from uptown into the sea causes the route to become shallower.
He went on to say that in order to avoid any alarming situation, they have not been sending out the only ferry on use half full taking into consideration the water level. He suggested that the said area be dredged in order to avoid the predicted situation.
Another issue he raised was the running cost of the ferries. According to the GM, four of five Ferries are presently on maintenance row but financing the maintenance and running the entire administration he stated is challenging. “We have to pay staffs, pay all our taxes, buy spare parts and fuel. Business is not running”, he lamented. He went on to say that the MV Mahera which is presently serving the public is not running on a normal routine and at the same time runs half full in order to ensure that it does not break down.
Mr Daramy said getting spare parts for the ferries is also very difficult and very expensive.
Questioned about the alleged twenty billion leones (Le 20,000,000,000.00), which is said to have been allocated by the government for the purchase of new ferries and the maintenance of old ones, he responded that “ the money is not directly coming to us but the Ministry of Transport and Aviation is doing well. They have agreed to fund the repairing of all the ferries”.
As he commands Holland Ship Yard which is working on the importation of the necessary parts he stated that the ministry together with its stakeholders have given the said yard the responsibility to thoroughly service the ferries.
Meanwhile as the passengers call on the government to provide new ferries, he has assured that the MV Freetown will soon be on board as the ships yard is presently working on it.
By Edna Smalle
Monday June 27, 2016
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