Sierra Leone President, Julius Maada Bio has said on Wednesday that, global supply chains have been disrupted and everything around the world is now more expensive in every country and Food, fuel, and other goods are now more expensive in United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Australia, India, Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, and even in Sierra Leone than they were just a few months ago.
The President said in his broadcast speech marking the 61st independence anniversary of Sierra Leone that, like all countries around the world, Sierra Leone has continued to wrestle with the immense global economic crises and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that his government has taken immediate steps to soften the impact of these hard economic time.
“Our quick action economic recovery programme and other subsidies and tax incentives have kept essential goods in the market. Government has also undertaken social safety net programmes to help out the hardest hit and most vulnerable of our citizens,” President Bio said.
In that regard, President Bio said that they have managed the economy responsibly and supported private sector growth, and they also kept investments in human capital, infrastructure, energy, while protecting and promoting rights and good governance.
Speaking on his flagship education programme, President Bio said that they have built and rehabilitated more school infrastructure, committed more money to supporting education, extended universal access to free quality education to all children, provided free learning and teaching materials, revamped vocational education, and fundamentally changed education in just four years.
Speaking on health, the president said that within a four-year period they have hired and trained more nurses and doctors, reduced maternal and child mortality, minimised the common disease burdens, built and rehabilitated more hospitals and community health care centres, expanded private sector investment, regularised the delivery of low-cost drugs, introduced an effective national ambulance service, initiated innovative health-provider services, and gained the confidence of our partners with their investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in that sector.
In addressing the water crises in Freetown, the president said that he recently commissioned 15 brand new water bowsers in addition to 20 bowsers purchased just two years ago to support the distribution of water in under-served communities in Freetown.
“UNICEF and WHO assert that my government has increased access to potable water by 24% in the rural areas and 6% in the Western Area. This is more than any Government has ever done in four years,” President Bio said.
Going forward, president mentioned that they have increased agricultural productivity, introduced more mechanisation in all sixteen districts, provided more input support for farmers, established more new cash crop fields, and expanded agricultural value-chains.
By George M.O. Williams