By Sulaiman Jalloh
Hon. Mohammed Alpha Jalloh of the All People’s Congress (APC) party representing the people of Falaba District, has informed the House of Parliament about a deplorable road condition leading to the district headquarter town of Koinadugu district, Kabala town.
Speaking on Thursday, November 21, 2024, at the Well of Parliament while contributing to the debate of the 2025 national budget, he said the Makeni-Kabala Road is one of worst roads leading to a district headquarter town, second to his district headquarter town Mongo. “Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, the road from Makeni to Kabala has claimed countless lives,” he narrated, while sharing a story of one Jeneba Kamara, a single mother who reportedly lost her life last month on the said road, noting in the memory of Jeneba let the road be prioritize while appealing to the Ministry of Finance to allocate funds to save lives.
He said road construction is the biggest nightmare for the people of Falaba District and that the Minister of Finance has announced 345.7 million Leones allocation to the Sierra Leone Road Authority (SLRA) for the construction of bridges. He noted that there are roads in the district that should have been completed in 2020 but till now they are yet to be completed. “The initial contract for that road was 70 million dollar and because of the delay in the completion of that road, they had to revisit the contract price June this year. So, the revise price is now 86million dollars” he pointed while cautioning the delay of the construction of the roads in Falaba District, adding only 30million dollars that have been committed to the contractor and that a gap of 56million dollars remains for the completion of the said road while expressing concern on the 2025 budget for only allocating about 1million USD. He stated that, “the people of Falaba did not deserve this”.
Speaking on water, Hon. Mohammed Alpha Jalloh said the people of Koinadugu and Falaba Districts continue to face challenges on access to pure drinking water. He pointed that the project that was started for years now has been delayed and thus will cost government more money, noting the 2025 national budget did not capture the project while, calling on Guma Valley Water Company to prioritize and complete the Koinadugu and Falaba water project.
