The Infrastructure for Development Sierra Leone, (I4DSL)’s members are on a massive road tour in the northern city of Makeni.

The body is led by its Chairman, Charles Mambu, during a nine major road assessment work in the city.

Mr. Mambu told journalists that they were assessing the status of the roads under construction.

He said government through the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA), awarded contract to SALCOST to construct nine major roads within Makeni Township.

He said they wanted to identify the challenges the company is facing in implementing the contract so that they would inform government for a quick action to be taken.

“We have discovered that SALCOST has gone far in implementing the contract by constructing sober drainages and paving the roads”.

“All we are appealing now is for government to pay the contractor so they will tar the road, since SALCOST pre-finance the work,” Mambu said.

He disclosed that they also inspected ten other major roads within Makeni township but those roads are in deplorable conditions, adding that they needed the attention of government to be fixed that is after the completion of the nine roads started,” he said.

He said if the work is completed, it would ease the traffic in the vicinity and so he pleaded with the people of Makeni to continue to exercise understanding and patience with the government and the contracting firm.

In his contribution, Mayor Abu Bakar Kamara of Makeni City Council praised Mr Mambu and his team for the visit.

Mayor Kamara, who joined the assessment team, said the completion of the roads in Makeni would not only ease traffic but would also make the movement of ambulances to become easy. He said people and vehicles would easily access the roads within the city to convey pregnant women and sickly people to designated government regional hospitals.

He pleaded with the government to release funds to SALCOST to enable them complete the construction work they’d started.

He cited the road leading to a government hospital along the Makama  road as critical and urgently needed to be completed.

Mayor Kamara said the rains may come soon, and therefore the council is looking forward to having government’s support in order to complete the work.

He thanked officials of the government for addressing road sector concerns in his community.

Both Mambu and Mayor Kamara also heaped praises to SALCOST and government for addressing the infrastructural challenges in that part of the country.