By Marilyn king
September 05, 2020, (232News)
KAILAHUN – The Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) on Tuesday 1st September 2020 compensated ninety plantation owners in the Kailahun district. The payment which took place at the Kailahun Court Barray saw ten (10) plantation owners from Ngiehun Luawa Town and seventy (70) plantation owners from Kailahiun town receiving compensation.
Speaking to the plantation owners, the Engineer of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) Edmond Tommy said that the plantation owners received their letters for payment the previous week which they were to submit to the SLRA staff to facilitate the compensation process. He called on plantation owners who had issues with the ongoing compensation to exercise patience as such issues would be addressed accordingly.
He went on to say that SLRA was in Ngiehun Luawa and Kailahun Court Barray the previous year to compensate with the first batch, and this second time around SLRA had gone at Kailahun District with a huge amount of money.
Engineer Tommy called attention to the previous state of the road noting that with such payments the people of Kailahun stand to benefit from infrastructural and other social amenities.
He called on the Paramount Chief and Member of Parliament of that constituency to carefully witness the compensation process. “Some plantation owners received their compensation fees last year and this year we have decided to pay compensation fees to the remaining plantation owners” He said.
He said that during the verification process the past year, plantation owners were asked to stand by their plantation to be verified and the plantation owners did as they told,
One of the witnesses of the compensation process, Tenesie Amadu Bockarie said that he was always at SLRA office in Freetown asking the SLRA staff when the remaining compensation fees to the plantation owners would be paid as the Kailahun District people were always enquiring from him about the status of their compensation fees.
Tenesie Amadu Bockarie continued that SLRA were in Kailahun to pay the compensation fees to the plantation owners for plantations that were demolished by the SLRA for road construction.
He furthered that the plantation owners will transfer to another location as soon as they have received their money and start their plantations again. He stated that the plantation owners will use their money to brush another area so that they can start their plantations. SLRA he said demolished fifty (50) plantations but the plantation owners will use the money to brush one hundred (100) plantations.
He also said the people that owned the plantations will not eat the money but were going to use it to replant their coco and cacao.
The chief of Ngiehun Luawa town Kailahun District, Chief Somerie Fomba Tengbeh III thanked SLRA staff while admonishing them to keep their promises to his people of Ngiehun Luawa town.
He continued that the plantation owners will make good use of the compensation fees and replant their coco and cacao.
He also said that they believed in their plantation which is the only way they would have money for them and family.
Distribution of cheques to the plantation owners climaxed the occasion.
