President Dr. Julius Maada Bio has on Saturday visited Sulima to thank its people for supporting him become the president and proposed that the coastal town become a centre of tourism, some 406 kilometres from the capital city, Freetown.
Addressing the gathering in Krio and their native Mende language, the President said: “We are here to thank you and to say we have not forgotten you. We are here because you chose me as your preferred candidate and voted me to become the president of Sierra Leone. I know Sulima very well, and I know what to do to make life easier for you. My ministers of tourism and fisheries have all been here before.”
President Bio said that in addition to the free quality education, his government was also working hard to bring to the area, starting with the solar-powered streetlights, adding that apart from the investment in education to make their kids grow up and take care of Sulima, Sorogbeima and Sierra Leone, they are also working hard to make Sulima a centre for tourism in the country.
He commended the women for the display of their handicrafts, encouraged them to attract more tourists and assured the people of Sulima that like all other parts of Sierra Leone development was underway to the area.
Minister of Tourism, Madam Memunatu Pratt, told the President that just after her appointment as minister in 2018, she undertook a general study of tourism development in the country and found out that Sulima had a huge tourism potential because of its over 40 kilometre stretch of beach and a very rich culture.
She assured the President that with tourism as one of the key areas to transform the economy, Sulima presented a very big opportunity because it was a virgin area, adding that the ministry’s intervention in Sulima would become prosperous by using tourism to eliminate poverty.
Last year, the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs with support from UNDP trained women of Sulima on entrepreneurship development skills for alternative livelihood enhancement, for which the Minister was pleased to see display of Handicrafts by Sulima women.
Sulima is a coastal town in the South of Sierra Leone that borders Sierra Leone and Liberia by sea. It is known for its natural endowments, segmented ports for fishing and over 40 kilometres of beach layout.
26/02/2021. ISSUE NO: 8010