Government of Sierra Leone
Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Secretariat Building, George Street, Freetown, Sierra Leone
PRESS RELEASE
EUROPEAN UNION HANDS OVER RIDER FOR THE FULL FUNDING OF THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE BANDAJUMA-LIBERIA ROAD AND THREE BRIDGES
Freetown, Sierra Leone, July 28, 2015-The Head of the European Union Delegation in Sierra Leone, Peter Versteeg, has today handed over to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr. Kaifala Marah the original Rider of the Financing Agreement for the full funding of the reconstruction of the Bandajuma-Liberia Border Road and three bridges across the Sewa, Moa and Waanje rivers along the road corridor of the Liberia Border Road.
In June 2014, a financing agreement to the tune of 62.2M Euros from the Regional Indicative Programme (RIP) and Sierra Leone’s 10th EDF National Indicative Programme (NIP) to partly finance the works was approved and signed. The estimated cost for the Bandajuma-Liberia Border Road and three bridges project is approximately, 105m Euros. The signing this afternoon is for the allocated balance funding of 43M Euros allocated from Sierra Leone’s 11th EDF NIP to complete the works.
The Bandajuma-Liberia Border Road is located in the south-east of Sierra Leone and forms part of the Trans-West African Coastal Highway; the main highway connecting the countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. This Trans- West African Highway passes through Bo, crosses the Sewa River approximately 8.8km south of Bo and continues south to Bandajuma located along the banks of the Waanje River, about 46km south of Bo. The project is part of an international highway of 103 km long including three bridges of which two are existing bridges and one is an entirely new bridge replacing a hand-pulled ferry. The project completes a missing link in the Trans-West African Coastal Highway.
The overall objective of the project is to reduce poverty through enhancement of the road and bridges network in Sierra Leone and in the West African region. The project enhances the social and economic development of the population by eliminating constraints to road transport and transportation costs.
Dr. Kaifala Marah, Minister of Finance and Economic Development thanked the European Union, adding: “This project is a continued demonstration of President Ernest Bai Koroma’s commitment to infrastructure development as well as the EU’s sustained support to our aspirations as a people.”
The project activities will include the construction of new paved road between Bandajuma to the Liberia Border, the construction of three (3) two-lane bridges over the Sewa, Moa and Waanje Rivers.
For further enquiries please contact: Sayoh Kamara, Head of Media and Public Relations, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
