Squatters have occupied a piece of land situated at Tower Hill in Freetown which the Ministry of Lands, Country Planning and the Environment had allocated to the National Centre for Vocational Studies (NCVS) and are preventing the institution from undertaking its building project on the said land. The Centre is a government assisted institution.
Authorities at the institution fear that if immediate action is not taken by the Lands and Education ministries to get the illegal occupants off the land, the school may close down because it would not have a place where it would carry out its operations as it has been given notice to quit the place where the centre occupies at No 6D Syke Street in Freetown.
It could perceived that the state of affairs as described above runs contrary to the intended direction of President Julius Maada Bio’s leadership which placed education as a key priority in the New Direction agenda.
The Proprietor of the National Centre for Vocational Studies (NCVS), Foday B. Conteh, told Premier News on Friday that the institution acquired the said piece of land in 2008 and constructed a foundation for a building which they had planned would house the institution in the future, but due to administrative challenges the construction project was stalled.
He revealed that the institution had received several eviction notices from the land lord of the property it currently occupies at Syke Street.
He further explained that the land which had been allotted to the NCVS at Tower Hill had been put in the care of one Madam Kadijatu Bangura who served there as Caretaker.
Conteh said that in the year 2018 the said Kadijatu Bangura, the caretaker, claimed ownership of the said land and presented certain document purportedly as prove that she owned the said land.
Conteh noted that numerous complaints were lodged to the Ministry of Lands and several visits were made by officials from the Ministry of Lands to the property, but no action had been taken to evict the squatters.
Theresa Hawa Sawanneh, a teacher at the centre, confirmed that officials from the Lands Ministry had visited the said piece of land to assess the situation, and even added that they had been chased off the land by the illegal occupants who held machetes, knives and sticks.
She further stated that because appropriate action had not been taken by the Ministry of Lands, they reported the matter to the National Commission for Assets and Government Property, and the Technical Head of that Commission, Charles Tuckers recalled that a complaint was lodged to the Commission by authorities of NCVS, and added that an outdoor visit was made at the property on Friday to assess the situation.
“But we are yet to give our findings and recommendations to the affected institution. It is an enormous challenge ahead because the appropriate action has been delayed,” he said.
The said land was visited by this medium, and it was observed that makeshift structures believed to have been erected by current occupants of the land which the NCVS consider to be squatters on a foundation which had been constructed by the school authorities.
Since its establishment in 1983, the National Centre for Vocational Studies has trained thousands of women who are gainfully employed in Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) and other private institutions. It has been very instrumental in providing the middle level manpower in Sierra Leone. The institution is offering courses in Business, Secretarial and Computer Studies.
By George M.O. Williams
10/08/2020. ISSUE NO.: 7883