Samuel Kallon 
By Ragan M. Conteh
“As an Authority we cannot ask CSE to undertake road maintenance while the government of Sierra Leone owed the company $70M,” the Director General of SLRA Ing. Jalil Momodu told the Public Account Committee hearing at the New Administrative Building, Tower Hill in Freetown yesterday.
He said the roads constructed by CSE are supposed to be maintained by the company but they are also constrained with funding.
He said the roads continued to be depreciated yearly, which is why they are continuously mentioned in the Auditor General’s report.
Ing. Momodu appeals to the PAC to assist SLRA to permanently fix up the roads in Freetown.
He stated that the CSE is crying to SLRA to help fast track their payment so that they can continue with their road construction but, that the Ministry of Finance is yet to disburse funds to the company.
It could be recalled that, the terrible road network has a devastating consequences in terms of economic viability and social transformation especially during raining seasons, noting that SLRA is aware about this ugly situation for over a decade now but no improvement was done to address the status of these roads due to funding gap.
The residents have blamed SLRA, insisting that Authority has not been considering the economic viability or value of constructing standard roads which might increase economic opportunities.
They said even their economic activities in their communities have been slow down due to the bad road network and that condition of living at the moment is heartrending.
“We are exploited or demoralized hugely on a daily basis by commercial bike riders, delivery vans, heavy duty trucks and commercial motor tricycle with impunity as a result of terrible roads,” one of the residents at Ferry Junction said.
The aggrieved residents have intended to visit the Sierra Leone Road Authority and the Sierra Leone Road Maintenance Funds respectively as they are the two entities that are charged with the responsibility to construct roads nationwide and called on them to at least grade or maintain the drainage system to avoid or reduce the deep potholes.
