By Hassan Bruz
Northern Bureau Chief :
It was a moment of uncontrollable delight at the Kamara Street Residence of the Member of Parliament for Constituency 049 in the Northern District of Port Loko, where a lot of people gathered in honour of an invitation extended to them by Hon. Alhajie Seray Dumbuya himself. They were mostly Parents and Candidates of the 2015 Basic Education Certificate Examination [BECE] scheduled for Monday 29th. March 2015.
The Honourable Member of Parliament was in the Constituency for the 3 Day Stay at Home declared by Government in its bid to flush out Ebola in the Country. He used the occasion to salvage what many referred to as the inconceivable situation of Parents and Guardians especially those with Children that were to take the aforementioned Basic Education Certificate Examinations [BECE]. Hon. Alhajie Seray Dumbuya in his address to the gathering said he is mindful of the immense burden the Ebola outbreak has brought to the Country as a whole and the financial constraints it has continued to wreck on family heads. He said the situation is therefore supposed to be much more difficult in such rural settings where most people are in no form of gainful employments. He observed that the system is further worsen by the fact that people could now not freely move to do the things they normally do in securing their daily living for fear of contracting the Ebola virus.
Hon. Alhajie Seray Dumbuya spoke on the importance of Education as a sure key to success and stressed the need for Parents to do all that is humanly possible for their children to get quality education. He said even though things are generally difficult, he has gone the extra mile to secure a School bag and other learning materials including a mathematical set, a ruler, pen and pencils for the BECE Candidates around his Residence in Port Loko – a gesture he intends to extend to the rest of his Constituents. The Constituency 049 Member of Parliament re-echoed the appeal of both President Koroma and Government for People to comply with the pieces of advice by the Medics for them to refrain from the don’ts of Ebola such as touching the sick, washing and secretly burring the dead. On the other hand, the Member of Parliament encouraged the School Going Children to make proper use of the opportunity the APC led Government is offering in terms of quality and affordable education. He said they should refrain from all forms of waywardness and concentrate in their studies as Education is better than gold and silver.
Pa Haruna Kallokoh is one of the Elders at Kamara Street and also a parent of the beneficiaries of the donations from the Member of Parliament. On behalf of the parents of the BECE Candidates,Pa Haruna Kalolokoh thanked Hon. Dumbuya for the timely intervention. He said the offer was an obvious relief, citing how it had remained quite difficult for most Parents to buy those required items in spite the fact that they were repeatedly reminded by their children to secure those much needed learning materials.
Foday L Kamara of Maforki Islamic and Fatmata Bangura and Kadiatu Kamara both of the Port Loko Catholic Secondary School, were some of the Candidates that benefited from the donation of the Member of Parliament. They expressed thanks and appreciation to Hon. Dumbuya for the invaluable offer. In their separate statements, they explained the usefulness of the materials in an examination and promised to make proper use of them. We need them for the exams and we are now confident they will help us to go through in flying colours –the Pupils maintained. You now have the chance to have a glance on some of the Photos obtained in the brief occasion, which ended with the provision of food to hundreds of children in the neighbourhood by the same member of Parliament …..
