The Management of Kingho Investment Company Limited has on Friday 8 January 2021 signed a Railway and Port Lease Agreement with officials of the mining and minerals sector of Sierra Leone. The agreement will ensure the Company’s subsidiary- Kingho Railway and Port Company Limited- utilize the infrastructure for transporting iron ore extracts from the mining sites inland to the port at Pepel on the coast ready for shipment from Sierra Leone.
The 192 kilometer railway facility which stretches from the new Iron Ore mines in Tonkolili District to the port town of Pepel in Port Loko District is owned by the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL). In order to enhance effective transportation of iron ore extracted from the mining site in Tonkolili to be transported out of the country, Kingho had contracted for the lease of the railway and port facilities with the GoSL.
Against this backdrop, the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources and the National Minerals Agency (NMA) on Friday January 8th 2020 signed the lease agreement granting Kingho the right to operate the railway and port facility for the transportation of its Iron Ore extracts from Sierra Leone. Kingho Railway and Port Company Limited will also commercialize the use of the railway and port to other potential users along the railway and port corridor after it completes what is projected to be a Multi-Million Dollar restoration and expansion work.
Shortly after the event which took place at the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources, Chief Executive officer (CEO) of Kingho Investment Company Limited, Gilbert Zhao, on behalf of the Board of Directors and Management of Kingho Sierra Leone expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation to every single government official who had worked so hard for the successful signing ceremony.
“The fulfillment of this agreement proves that Kingho is here to do business and in the right way,” Gilbert stressed, adding that “the Company is trying to build a solid foundation of our success on compliance to all government and local regulations and laws and in a transparent manner for the benefit of the Company and the people of Sierra Leone.”
He added that Kingho Railway and Port Company Limited will work strictly under the guidelines of the agreement to fulfill all its obligations.
The Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Timothy Kabba, during the ceremony said that the signing of the lease agreement is a way of showcasing government’s support to enabling a very good working atmosphere for investors.
Meanwhile, it could be recalled that in September 2020, the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources handed over the New Tonkolili Iron Ore Project to Kingho Mining Company Limited. Both Kingho Mining Company Limited and Kingho Railway and Port Company Limited are subsidiaries of the parent body Kingho Investment Company Limited which itself is headed by the CEO Gilbert Zhao.
By Sallieu S. Kanu
11/01/2021. ISSUE NO:7976