By Sulaiman Jalloh
In an exclusive interview with Expo Times, Hon. Aaron Aruna Koroma, the deputy leader 2 of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party in parliament, has said irrespective of the current dollar exchange rate, the China Railway Seventh Group (CRSG) has a contractual responsibility to produce or release the traffic data document, noting it is part of the agreement between the Government of Sierra Leone and the construction company to be releasing traffic data, financial report, among others.
While acknowledging the challenges of the exchange rate, the lawmaker argued that Clause 10.4 of the concession contract agreement provides for pre-increment and production of traffic data, something he said is very important because government, according to the same agreement gets five percent of the revenue collected, but noting without the traffic data they cannot ascertain how much CRSG is making.
“The only way we will know government is getting the actual 5% is when CRSG produce the traffic data. It’s also good for investors, because if the traffic data is produced to know whether they are fairly treated or unfairly treated, we can help them. Without the traffic data, I don’t think we should talk about anything that has to do with increment,” Hon. Koroma stated.
Hon. Koroma said their campaign for the release of the said documents is in the interest of the people they represent and not in the interest of any political party.
“We are doing this not because we are APC, but government needs to understand that there are clauses that contractors supposed to do and they mighty have not done that, because according to the agreement they should build markets along corridors of their operation and those markets are yet to be constructed,” he said, emphasizing that the construction company CRSG should release the traffic data so that parliament can review it.
“Someone was paying NLe183 and you ask that person to now pay NLe700 or more is highly unreasonable and I think parliament has its role to play,” the deputy opposition leader noted while referencing one of the categories in the recent proposed increment.
According to him, government has a responsibility to encourage investors, saying those investors help government to develop areas that government might not be able to develop. He noted that the said tollgate agreement was entered into at the time his party, the All People’s Congress, was ruling. He however said the expansion of the road to four lanes reduced road accidents, traffic congestion, among others.
“The agreement in question was brought in by the APC party, and the time we were in power, we saw that the agreement has advantages. A road with two lanes now has four lanes, something which has reduced accidents and traffic,” the lawmaker pointed out.
Speaking on cooperate socials responsibility, he said it is clear in the law what the China Railway Seventh Group should do for the people, noting their concern is not only about how much profit the CRSG is marking.
“Movement has been restricted. Lots of things are happening. In essence, the CRSG has to adhere to their cooperate social responsibility” he said, saying the alternative road people talk about is in the communiqué which works side-by-side with the agreement which start from Songbo to Moyamba, noting that if the alternative road is not constructed, it is a breach of agreement.
“In the event those clauses in the agreement are not respected, it calls for termination,” he submitted.
Referencing the Constitution of Sierra Leone, Hon. Koroma said parliament has the right and power to compel the production of documents, emphasizing that parliament has the power, through the constitution, to ask for the tollgates’ traffic data, something he said is mandatory according to the agreement between CRSG and the Government of Sierra Leone.
The Member of Parliament called on government to protect investors and equally consider the implications of such proposed increment on the people they serve.
Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Friday, March 1st, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
