Lack of funding Africa
Diamond country
A short project surveying a war damaged oil jetty at Sierra Leone. The 11 year war had ended but the devastation remained. War trials were in progress and armed guards protected high court judges as local men and boys held out their one hand and begged on the streets. The terrorist army chopped off a hand or arm from many of the male population to prevent resistence. . .
Structural examination of the oil jetty above and below water showed considerable corrossion, siezed pumping equipment and disfunctional electrical systems. We could plan to re-instate the jetty but in reality where was the funding coming from ? The client thought the World Bank may fund it.
The fuel shortage created by the jetty being mostly out of service caused long queues of people carrying fuel cans or pushing cars to the gas station. Abandoned cars littered the streets until fuel was available.
I was offered diamonds for cash as the secret vendor cut the glass of my hotel window to prove the diamonds he offered me were real. There seemed to be endless opportunities in developing this country starting with the oil jetty to get the country mobile again but funding was unlikely.
Kissy Jetty Sierra Leone
Divers inspecting the neglected structure below water, anodes had eroded long ago and the structure particularly at sea level was holed with corossion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Contact me. . . . . . .
Perhaps one day this ruined country could be regenerated starting with KIssy Jetty to get fuel into the country and people mobile again. Lay some roads and build a transport system, perhaps even a port to export the crops Sierra Leone is more than capable of producing: There's so much potentialhere.
Neglected pumping equipment, seized engines, holed fuel tanks and leaking pipe work...
"Reutersreport" Sun Mar 22, 2009
Four reported killed in Sierra Leone fuel blaze
FREETOWN, March 22 (Reuters) - At least four people were killed in a blaze in Sierra Leone on Sunday when fuel leaking from a broken pipe caught fire while residents tried to salvage it with jerry cans, fire and medical officials said.
The fire broke out at the Kissy Terminal in the east end of the West African country's capital Freetown, where fuel vessels deliver their cargoes ashore via pipes run along a jetty. "We saw when the pipe burst and (we saw) people moving to the area with jerrycans. Many of them sustained wounds," Isatu Sesay, one of several hundred residents evacuated from their homes nearby, told Reuters.
Alusine Kamara, Freetown's deputy fire chief, said three bodies had been recovered from the scene and more people may have been killed. Several more people had been taken to hospital to be treated for burns.
Medical sources said separately that a policeman who was taken to hospital died from his injuries. Kamara said the fire broke out after police arrived at the scene to disperse hundreds of people trying to salvage fuel.
Police fired teargas to help disperse the crowds, but it was not clear whether the fuel was ignited by tear gas or in some other way, he said. "We have been here promptly for over five hours battling to (bring) the fire under control ... One house was engulfed by fire but we brought the fire under control," Kamara said. (Reporting by Christo Johnson and Idriss Kpange; Writing by Alistair Thomson)
At least four people were killed in a blaze in Sierra Leone on Sunday when fuel leaking from a broken pipe caught fire while residents tried to salvage it with jerry cans, fire and medical officials said.
The fire broke out at the Kissy Terminal in the east end of the West African country's capital Freetown, where fuel vessels deliver their cargoes ashore via pipes run along a jetty.
"We saw when the pipe burst and (we saw) people moving to the area with jerrycans. Many of them sustained wounds," Isatu Sesay, one of several hundred residents evacuated from their homes nearby, told Reuters.
Alusine Kamara, Freetown's deputy fire chief, said three bodies had been recovered from the scene and more people may have been killed.
Medical sources said separately that a policeman who was taken to hospital died from his injuries and 25 other people were being treated for burns, 11 of whom were in a critical condition.
Kamara said the fire broke out after police arrived at the scene to disperse hundreds of people trying to salvage fuel.
Police fired teargas to help disperse the crowds, but it was not clear whether the fuel was ignited by tear gas or in some other way, he said.
"We have been here promptly for over five hours battling to (bring) the fire under control ... One house was engulfed by fire but we brought the fire under control," Kamara said. . . .
An extract from the Transport Strategy Notes published by the Sierra leone Government in March 2007
2.2.2 Sierra Leone Maritime Administration (SLMA)
i. Mandate and Objectives
The overall objective of maritime transport sub-sector policy is to develop an efficient, safe, reliable and competitive maritime, coastal and inland waterways system. The maritime sub-sector contributes to the government’s economic development and poverty reduction strategy through (i) the creation of an enabling clean environment for fishing, and inland transportation, (ii) an increase in passenger and freight transportation at affordable prices, and (iii) increased employment generated by the hiring of additional seafarers.
Presently, there are more than 380-km of inland waterways in Sierra Leone. Inland water transport plays a very important role in facilitating both domestic and international trade, especially with neighbouring Guinea. To a large extent, inland transport services are still provided by individual private operators or small enterprises. In recent years, services have been declining as a result of several factors, including lack of a clear inland waterway transport development policy and sustainable investment. Most of the existing infrastructures are inadequate, obsolete and need urgent rehabilitation.
ii. Needed Interventions Short and Medium Interventions:
- Procurement and installation of navigational aids
- Procurement and installation of communication equipment
- Clearing of wrecks in the coastal and inland waterways of Sierra Leone
- Dredging of waterways
- Construction of boat yards
- Institutional capacity building.