Peep Sierra Leone

The action by government to have landed this formidable Fibre-Optic to our Country is passionate, but never cloying.

Speaking to a foreign employee of the World Bank (who prefers anonymity) about the contents of the loan agreement between our government and the World Bank in relation to the optic, he told me categorically that one thing that fascinates him about Sierra Leoneans, is the fact that whatever the World Bank says as conditions of loan, is easily agreed to without prior reflexion or negotiation. This has seemed to be true in the much talked about liberalization or privatization of the fibre-optic. Let me start by briefing readers that liberalizing anything, is making that thing less strict or almost free. Also the word privatization in most cases can lead to job losses. Relating these two definitions to our Baby 'SIERRATEL', we may clearly see that our interest has been cross-eyed in order to enrich private mobile telecommunications and data Company's, at our own detriment. This concept of privatizing or liberalizing sectors of our own resources, needs careful and tactful scrutiny, not just on the basis that others have done it so we must follow suit. NO. Take a clear-cut example from the western world since they had practically liberalized everything ever since, which is causing them problems and gnashing of teeth, to the extent that they are feeling the pinch today. They presently have no control over their economy; therefore their governments have to be granting bail outs here and there to company's which they previously owned, but are now private operatives. These bail outs are meant to sustain them, but in the interim, government would have preferred to repossess them again because, pouring ones hard earned cash into a company that you have no control over, is a null an void scenario. If that company/institution is government owned, then one can direct or dictate as to how things exactly should be done. Frankly, this whole idea of the fibre-optic was in the first place an initiative of SIERRATEL before government brought in the Global Link based on political incorrectness and manipulations by the private companies for their own interest and not that of our country. We must teach our children's children to up-keep our own government Parastatals for posterity and, empower them to be more competitive and stable. Countries like Lebanon have two mobile operators owned by the Lebanese government and China for example has three i.e. China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom which are owned and supported by the Chinese government. No other company operates to alter their interest. Their oil and petrol companies are also owned by their government, that is in fact why they will not face the common recession easily as is now been experienced with these liberalized western and European countries. Ask the proprietors of both Africel and Comium who originated from Lebanon. They will tell you whether other private companies have the right to sensitive issues as communications or extractive resources, the answer will be, NO. They are all owned by government. Government can maintain and or sustain its own telecommunication institution and at the same time, create competition between the other companies and then simulate conditions as if all is well and liberalize, i.e. to give benefit to the customers without dishing out ones wealth to others, who will only for example, give $5000 to either SLFA or one of those beauty pageants, in the guise that they are helping and re-investing into the economy. Suppose SIERRATEL has that capacity, it will give ten times that amount and will not be limited to petits fours. According to a close source of the government, it is said that government has already secured a loan of $30M USD from the Indian government which has been made available at the Ecowas Bank, through the Sierra Leone government, but which will not go directly to them in cash but through supplies in materials and services, including payments of contractors which will be done through Bank. A similar case with the implementation of the Mobile Network. Government is really doing well but should take a look at the conditions imposed, when in actual fact the money is not up to $50M USD to be competing with other companies in this country having not less than $200M USD, without any condition to adhere to. Why should the government of the day be seen as propitiating private investors and to an extent, sort of embarrassing our own public property. Check the monies these companies are making on a day-to-day basis from the Telecom operations in this our dear country, just check. If these companies were owned by our government, it would have made tremendous amount of money, not only from tax prepaid, but also from the dividend paid to shareholders, which would have gone to government coffers. Now on the Fibre-optic been liberal, to me is a very wrong footing taken by government in the future. Mind you we should not be that short-sighted but start something one can finish. Why does government want to privatize our darling SIERRATEL? I don't seem to understand but maybe thorough investigations sill be conducted to sensitize our readers on this matter.

As I stated earlier, privatizing a whole Parastatal will only lead to job losses. SIERRATEL has a staff-power of almost 750 workers and if we give them an opportunity which they really need and should be given; at least to manage the gateway to the optic-fibre, they will continue to manage the institution well and pay their workers with less intervention but more control mechanism for its use and security by the government. If on the contrary they do not allow SIERRATEL to have some say at least in this whole issue, then they SIERRATEL may have to lay off about 550 workers. Mr. President, kindly look properly into this problem and be the protean character to create the enable environment for all Sierra Leoneans, Jew or Gentile to live here and succeed here. No place like home...Lonta.