The European Union Delegation in Sierra Leone has on Wednesday, December 17, 2020, signed a three years € 3.7 million project grant with local authorities of the Port Loko and Kenema City Councils and Western Rural Area and Kailahun District Council.
The grant is to strengthen local governance, decentralization and sustainable urban development through territorial approach to local economic development in Sierra Leone.
The signing event which took place in Freetown brought together local authorities from all targeted Districts.
The European Delegation will provide 95 % of the funding (3.7 million euro) for the project while the remaining 5% (195 thousand euro) of the total fund would be provided by the Port Loko District Councils, bringing the total amount of the project to 3.9 million euros. The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to promote the improvement of quality and accessibility of public services; public participation in the formation of national and local policies; poverty reduction ; sustainable development; effective and efficient gender sensitive service delivery in Sierra Leone.
The Head of Cooperation at the European Delegation, Gerald Hatler said that the European Commission is particular in changing the narratives of local governance in Sierra Leone, adding that providing funding supports at local level would improve decentralization and economic development.
He said that the implementation of the projects would improve the living conditions of vulnerable groups, through the development of participatory urban plans by local authorities at the city-territory and local surroundings, noting that it would augment the response to social, environment, infrastructural and agriculture production challenges.
“Local authorities should ensure that they implement the projects fairly which would benefit people in the targeted localities. Local authorities should also collaborate with each other and show commitment during implementation of the project,” Hatler said.
Raman Tom Farma, the Chief Administrator for Western Area Rural District Council, noted that the project seeks also to improve technical and institutional capacity of local authorities by creating an enabling environment for inclusivity and sustainable citizen participation in local governance and socio-economic development with an increased focus on marginalized and vulnerable community members.
He added that the project would also improve the quality, delivery and equitable access to basic services, infrastructures, and capacity building, adding that it would also foster appropriate investment in motorized tricycle carts, and effective maintenance of vehicles by community-based waste collection structure that would be established.
He noted that in the field of waste management, local authorities should be able to identify and manage beneficiary of waste collections and Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with a minimum of eight and a maximum of 10 employees or business owners.
By George M.O. Williams
18/12/2020. ISSUE NO: 7968