By Aruna Rashid Toma Bangura (Deputy Editor)

One of the major causes for the underdevelopment of Sierra Leone is the lack of maintenance culture. Sierra Leoneans lack the habit of repairing what we think is getting spoiled, dilapidated and moribund. If only we can instill into the minds of our young generation the culture of maintenance, it will surely help to move this country forward from its current standings. Most of the developed and developing countries maintain their roads, bridges, beaches and other monumental edifices.

If only we want this country to thrive as a nation we must accept the culture of maintenance in order to attract more tourists and become a tourist based nation.

Sierra Leone is a country full of monumental relics and the government through the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs can generate more revenue from the tourism sector if only they can refurbish most of these edifices to attract tourists.

The National Tourist Board and Monument and Relics Commission as line agencies under the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs should embark on robust repairing and refurbishment of our tourism sites ranging from our beaches, buildings, bridges, National Parks etc. Sierra Leone is a historical land as it was the land of the freed slaves which makes it rich in historical culture.

The Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs Dr. Memunatu Pratt should ensure that robust mechanisms are put in place in making sure that these historical edifices are back to life in order to lure the attention of tourists in the tourism sector.

The Ministry of Works and Public Assets is failing in their duties and responsibilities as they are supposed to champion the course of repairing this nation. Most government buildings should be under current maintenance starting with the Ministerial Youyi building with lot of faulty elevators and moribund interior, the Daily Mail building which is now being used as a drug cartel and brothel, the Old railway line bridge and the Tengbeh town bridge. Even State House needs repairing as there are so many out dated materials within the precinct of that building.

The city’s streets are full of potholes and leaked drainages. These street gutters are not clean only when there are lucrative financial gains for such cleanings.

The Road Maintenance Fund Administration and Sierra Leone Roads Authority as line agencies under the Ministry of Works should embark on full time repairing and maintenance of all streets potholes and ensure that the country’s roads and bridges are intact for the safe and everyday use of the general citizenry.

The Mayor of the Freetown Municipality Yvonne Aki Sawyerr and her team must ensure the daily removal of garbage in the streets and station litter bins around turntables, car park areas and administrative buildings. The city must be fumigated to do away with the stale, rotten and urine smell within the city’s precinct for it to be a thing of the past. The Mayor of Freetown should act tough to get rid of all wastes in engaging the minds of idle youths by employing them to pick up the bin on the street.

The office of the National Commission for Civic Education and Development together with the Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education should include Maintenance and Repairing as either a topic or subject studied in schools to inculcate into the minds of the younger generation the culture to maintain and repair.

If only Sierra Leoneans can imbibe the culture of maintaining and repairing it would save government spending and resurrect the country’s economy by attracting more tourists. A leading example of a clean and smart cities in Africa are Rwanda and Morocco with the latter being the most attractive city and the former being the cleanest city.