Thetechnical team representing the Ministry of Finance has on Tuesday October 13, 2020, observed that there were abnormalities in the budget presented by the Sierra Leone Cable Network (SALCAB) at the ongoing budget hearing held at the conference room of the Accountant General’s Administrative Building in Freetown.
The team observed that there were inconsistencies in figures, and SALCAB specifically failed to indicate their plans for the company in a yearly manner; they were not specific on the actual amount apportioned to salary, investment and utilities. They failed to indicate the progress made thus far in the payment of debt amounting to Le 60 billion incurred by operators. The technical team also observed that they failed to mention their obligations to other institutions like Electricity Distribution & Supply Authority (EDSA) and Guma Valley Water Company, and also failed to indicate the progress in payment of US$ 30 million dollars loan secured by the Ministry of Finance to implement the National Fiber Backbone Project Phase 2 (NFB 2).
The team advised SALCAB to review their budget and make necessary corrections by Monday, before it could be presented to the Minister of Finance.
The Chief Commercial Officer for SALCAB, Kumba Liliana Musa said that they were experiencing difficulty from debtors after several engagement for them to repay their debts as some businesses has already folded up because of coronavirus adding they were only able to put the situation under control after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) periodic review.
She cited that after several engagements they sign an agreement to start paying their debts on 1st October citing that Sierratel failed to sign the agreement as they are currently owing SALCAB Le, 18 billion.
Musa noted that they receive no payment for bandwidth and O&M provided to all Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) under the e-Government Network which has incurred debt of over Le, 44 billion.
The Chief Finance Officer of SALCAB, Yusuf Ibrahim noted that the company is exploring a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for the deployment of a second submarine cable adding that the management has already approached 2 Africa Cable and expressed to partner with them to undertake the second fiber cable project.
He mentioned that SALCAB is currently deploying a fiber metro line in all major towns using EDSA’s pylons adding that the metro line would allow operators to easily deliver high speed fiber connectivity to their client homes and businesses.
By George M.O. Williams
15/10/2020. ISSUE NO: 7931