Africa 24 news
Most of our foodstuffs come from the provinces and are paid for heavily on transporting them to the city, Freetown.
Since the toll gates are mounted up along the highway from upcountry to the urban Freetown, Sierra Leonean traders don’t get to make more profits from sold out goods as they wish.
The stop-and-pay up tickets by vehicles at the Chinese gates-ways, toll gates, which were built during the previous government of president Ernest Bai Koroma, have brought not smiles to traders and drivers but cries since their existence in the country.
People have long since the end times of ex-president Koroma’s reign detested the idea of coming up or putting up several toll gates along our highway- Freetown to Kono.
The annoyance on toll gates’ existence by people was before the government of the current president, Julius Maada Bio. And about two days ago president Bio’s government announced that it would increase the tariffs on toll gates paid by private vehicle owners and drivers.
Back then, the people of Sierra Leone had thought at the time just like how they are thinking now that paying up in leones for tickets at these checkpoints are unnecessary embarrassment and a total burden on them amidst the hardship caused by inflation and bad economy in the country.
Most sierra Leoneans when the toll gates started working in the first week around 2016-17, they frowned at the agreement which was struck between their government (Sierra Leone) and the Chinese government.
The agreement indicated that since China had built two-way lane from Calaba Town in Freetown to Masiaka Town ( a distance of 40 miles or 65 km that is from Freetown to Masiaka), the government should signed with the China road construction company to allow about 25 years to own up the toll gates or collect ticket sales as a way to cover up the cost in building the Freetown-Masiaka highway road.
Masiaka is in the Port Loko district in the northern province of Sierra Leone.
The toll gates, the people had earlier predicted, have become a burdensome for those transporting their goods or agricultural produce from upcountry. The Chinese paid up gateways are confronting huge challenges for especially drivers ever being built.
The drivers of heavy duty-trucks, trailers, fuel tankers and commercial vehicles will be seriously affected by government’s latest proposed payment policy which will come into effect on March 1st 2024.
If this happens as planned, food supply from the hinterlands will be severely disturbed greatly as passengers will need to pay up exorbitant fares for their goods charged by drivers of trucks and lorries.
A business man in Waterloo grumbles about the current unfolding situation in the country:
“The prices on things such as coco-yam, plantains, local rice, charcoal, potatoes, and cassava tubers, pepper will be very expensive in the coming days with barely two weeks left now to experience a doubling in prices on local foodstuffs and other materials,” he said.