By Sulaiman Jalloh
Hon. Tawa Conteh, Deputy Speaker
Deputy Speaker of Parliament who doubles as the Chairman of the Public Account Committee (PAC), Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh has, on Monday, July 8, 2024, while probing into Audit queries at the Parliament Building on Tower Hill in Freetown, ordered Wingin Palm Oil Production Project to return to its operational site with effect of 13th July, 2024 with a firm agreement of completing the project within a year.
The agreement, according to the PAC Chairman, was reached in an exclusive meeting held with the consultants, contractors, Permanent Secretary, the Project Manager, Chief Accountant at the Ministry of Agriculture to understand the full scale of what happened and what would be expected, going forward.
Wingin is a mechanized Chinese project that engages in palm oil production established in Sierra Leone for effective production of palm oil to boost the foreign exchange in the African country. However, the Auditor General’s Report came up with a query regarding the project which the report indicates that supporting documents for an outstanding amount of three hundred thousand Leones (NLe300,000) were not submitted as at the time of auditing.
Responding to the issue raised, the Chairman of PAC said that Parliament was not too bothered with the money but the progress of the project. As an affirmative action, the Chairman revealed that they held an exclusive meeting and unanimously agreed on some recommendations all geared towards the successful completion of the project. “We agreed that the amount of over 600,000 United States Dollars received by Wingin as at June 2nd was still not sufficient for the amount required for the full payment of the boiler and turbine. So Wingin and his bank CME is going to open a letter of credit for the full amount covering the boiler and the turbine for another bank in China,” Hon. Tawa stated, adding that “Following all of these transactions and agreements, Wingin and the Ministry of Agriculture would make available to us evidence of the CME and Wingin would be responsible together with its bank here for evidence of the second MC from the bank in China to the beneficiary in Malaysia plus evidence format of the 20 percent advance payment.”
On the agreement, the Deputy Speaker maintained that they also agreed that within a maximum of 7 months the boiler should have been delivered on site as he affirmed relying on the words of Wingin, that the turbines normally do take four to six months for it to be manufactured.
The lawmaker, while reading the agreements, affirmed that Wingin would be returning to its site with effect on the 13th of July, 2024 to continue with the civil works. He reinforced the assurance and firm commitment of Wingin for a continued and a no-brake or absent work progress on site until the completion of the project.
Hon. Tawa Conteh furthered that any stop on the civil work on site from the date Wingin to recommence work would be met with a penalty by the Public Accounts Committee. He added that the bank in China would be required another 72 hours transition period for the issuing and advising the bank, adding that the Committee had however given them a maximum of 5 days to send a confirmation of the receipts.
The Chairman assured that they would also be engaging the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance with regards an extension by default, as he said they would be preparing for the arrival of the highest division in Freetown.
He recalled that the project was expected to be completed by the 31st of December, 2024, but noted however that from what they heard the project is still far from completion as against its completion timeline.
Ensuring an efficient delivery process, the Chairman revealed that they had tasked the Permanent Secretary to engage the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture for a possible extension. He said if an extension would not be possible, they would consider other dynamics of swift transactions just to ensure the successful completion of the project.
“If all things being equal, we expect the project to complete in another 12 months. We are going to work effectively because the work now is on the side of Wingin and the consultant, but the greater work is on the side of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance and the PAC as the mediating team to ensure that the funds are released in for the fulfilment and completion of the project,” the Deputy Speaker stated.
A Representative of Wingin at the public hearing affirmed to the agreements read out by the Deputy Speaker. He stated that the ruling made the PAC Chairman was fair and they were comfortable with it. The magnanimous but strict ruling of the PAC Chairman regarding the issue was in a bid to encourage investors in the country while prioritizing efficient service delivery. The agreements reached by all parties signifies commitment to ensure that the project continue in full force and deliver on time.
Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on wednesday, July 10th, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
