Samuel Kallon 
By Ragan M. Conteh
It is evident that the much-talked about Wellington-Masiaka toll gates road are now overwhelmed with potholes.
Those who ply along the route have described the road as a cosmetic construction done for the people of Sierra Leone.
Others have perceived the contractors, China Railway Seventh Group (CRSG), has having done a substandard work on the road.
The road, according to drivers have now endangered the lives of citizens and others who don’t have choice to pass through the tollgates.
One Mary Jane Williams who onboard a vehicle to Freetown, said, the Chinese had only constructed the road substandard way in spite of the millions being collected daily.
“It is less than 10 years when the road was completed and it is now in a serious problem.”
“The Jui bridge has some cracks on it which has prevented the vehicles from playing the route.”
“There is serious potholes at Calaba Town, Jui and not taking about the Hastings point, ” she said.
Many passengers have discredited the CRSG for their substandard construction on the road.
“We are not seeing much but they keep collecting billions as tollgate payment,” says Mary.
A Civil Society Activist, Edmond Abu, has earlier criticized the contract, considering it as a “big sham”.
Edmond Abu has in several platforms accused the Chinese company of extortion and a ploy to steal from the people of Sierra Leone.
He has also campaigned against the increase of tollgate fees recently on people.
Edmond Abu had, in the last, urged parliament and other stakeholders in governance to look into the contract on the Wellington Masiaka highway.
He’d spoken about of poor road construction by the Chinese firm, adding that the CRSG supposed to construct a market along the route but they have never done so.
“We have just been treated like foreigners in our own country. The CRSG is not taking the people serious at all, ” he stated.
Drivers have informed this medium that in the last three days the potholes at Calaba are so deep that their tyres get fired along the way.
As rains pour heavily from the skies, the damage on the roads expand put to test Chinese world’s engineering expertise on roads and bridges.
