By Allieu S. Tunkara
In what appears like a dream of a lifetime being realised, the tender process for the most ambitious infrastructure project ever undertaken in Sierra Leone was launched yesterday at State House.
Potential investors for the construction of the eight-kilometre-long bridge linking Freetown to the airport town of Lungi and the rest of the northwest of the country were informed yesterday of what is up for grabs.
It will be six lanes spanning from Freetown (Government Wharf) to Lungi and will cost between US$1.8bn and US$2.1bn, with the potential to raise revenue of US$ 11.2 billion within 25 years.
It is also hoped that the project will create 5,350 local jobs every year.
Launching the tender, President Julius Maada Bio assured that his government would not resort to borrowing debts for the implementation of the project as it is based on off-balance sheet financing. “The Lungi Bridge will lead to economic diversification and will not burden the nation with debts. The bridge will not make Sierra Leone pay debts for 30 years,” President Bio assured. He describes the project as worth the cost and that it would be funded without recourse to the public.
The project, President Bio continued, would unlock tangible growth as thousands of jobs would be created at the initial stage. Also, President Bio emphasised on the need to make the project free from corruption throughout its implementation.
“I will superintend the project so that it would be corrupt-free. I will discourage corruption, bribery and kickbacks throughout the implementation of the project,” President Bio assured.
In a one-hour power point presentation of the phase one report of the Lungi bridge, the head of the Presidential Infrastructure Initiative who is leading the project, said the project was about transforming Freetown and Lungi and the country as a whole. “Interrelated projects such as the free-trade zone, the New Airport terminal and the new coastal road in Freetown among others will be integrated into the Lungi bridge construction project,” he assured.
“The new coastal road project will lead to the reclamation of 60 acres of land along the coast occupied by squatters,” he added.
Dr Tambie described the report as the first undertaken by the government to assess the feasibility and affordability of the Lungi Bridge project apart from feasibility reports that were produced by The World Bank in 2010, the Sierra Leone Institute of Engineers in 2011 and the China Road and Bridge Corporation feasibility study in 2013. He also spoke about the dire situation of commuters plying from Lungi to Freetown assuring them that with the construction of the project, their suffering would come
to an end.
“For the past 58 years, we have been struggling, lives have been lost, businesses and properties have been destroyed while trying to cross the Lungi Bridge as governments have come and gone with unaccomplished promises of the bridge construction,” Dr Tambie went on.
He emphasized that the whole project would bring no cost to government since it would have no bearing on national budget financing. He however did not rule out tax exemptions which, he said, would be negotiated between the government and the investors. He said bridge users would pay for it.
“Passengers will have to pay a special toll for the roads to the airport and to the new city,” he disclosed. He also stated that they would charge according to the number of passengers in the vehicle.
Speaking to Politico, Dr Tambi said that investors who had expressed interest came from Europe, Asia and the Far East. One of them, Wei Lee from the China Road and Bridge Corporation, told Politico that they were interested in bidding, but that they were concerned about the timeline for submission of bids. “So far it looks attractive. After studying the details we also need our own estimation”, he said.
Another investor, Paul Clarke of Gateway Associates said the project “clearly has vision for Sierra Leone”. He however said that there was “a lot of work to do”. He said they would look into it in detail. “We would like to do something, but let’s see what we can do” he told Politico.
© 2019 Politico Online
