By Sulaiman Jalloh
In an exclusive interview with Expo Times, the deputy secretary general of Sierra Leone Importers Association, Sheriff Barrie said shutting down Abacha Street means shutting down the economy of Sierra Leone, claiming that Sani Abacha Street is the breadbasket of the country’s economy.
“Shutting down Abacha Street means we are shutting down the economy of this country; you just imagine if you slam ban on pushcarts and wheelbarrows, delivery vans, how do you expect customers to carry their goods from the shops to the packing grounds?” Barrie asserted, adding, after they read the notice from the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, it did not go down well with businesspeople in Freetown, especially those at Sani Abacha Street.
He added that it was a blunder from the Ministry of Transport and Aviation to have agreed to such whereby they failed to invite stakeholders and businesspeople, adding if the ministry had invited them prior to making the decision, they would have suggested ideas that could have salvaged the problems.
“… saying vehicles should offload and load goods at 10PM creates hug security threat,” he said, noting there is already an electricity problem, adding the government has not given them security assurance, but as a business community, they have to be security for themselves as their goods can be carted away in few seconds if they are not vigilant.
He asked that the Ministry of Transport to revisit the laws or else the economy of the country will be affected, noting that, if the government disallows pushcarts and delivery vans to collect goods from points to points at the aid street, business will not operate effectively.
“Moreover, I am serving as a PR for government to advise businesspeople to improve the economy, but slamming total ban means someone is at the corner who doesn’t want the economy to improve,” the deputy SG lamented.
He confirmed that they have dialoged with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and that, tentatively, the Ministry has given business people from 11AM to 3PM for pushcart, wheel barrows and delivery vans to park and collect goods along Sani Abacha Street and that the general membership of the business community should comply with the law.
In another development, Sheriff Barrie thanked the government for providing the ‘Waka Fine’ busses, but noted the price of transportation on the busses has merits and demerits, noting if a passenger is going far, the Ten Leone is fine, but a short distance, it is not good. He said it is unfair for commercial vehicles to be collecting NLe5 while government buses collect NLe10.
He stressed that government’s responsibility is to carter for the citizens, noting their own fare should not be higher than the private sector. He called on government to revisit the NLe10 bus fare.
He however called on citizens not to onboard the busses with the intention of destroying them, adding that they should take care of them as their own property as such is a cardinal responsibility of a citizen.
“If you are destroying a property that means you are destroying your own self,” he pointed out.
Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Wednesday, February 7th, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)