October 25, 2016 By Hassan Gbassay Koroma
Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Madam Dana J. Hyde, last week visited Sierra Leone to inspect and monitor the implementation of the US$44.4 million threshold funding programme to improve access to clean water and reliable electricity supply in Sierra Leone.
Responding to questions from journalists during her assessment visit to Kissy Dockyard and Moeba communities in the eastern part of Freetown, she stated that she was very much impressed with how the country’s leadership welcomed her, adding that she met with President Ernest Bai Koroma, civil society organisations and stakeholders in the water and energy sectors.
She reiterated that the US$44.4 million threshold programme was meant to improve access to clean water and reliable electricity, as well as support reforms designed to limit opportunities for corruption.
She said the MCC has very strong threshold criteria that should be met before any African country could qualify for the development funding.
The MCC Chief Executive Officer noted that they only partner with countries that demonstrate commitment to good governance on the premise that aid should build on those practices and reward countries already pursuing policies conducive to private investment and poverty-reducing growth.
she said research has shown that lack of reliable access to energy and safe drinking water supply greatly affect underdeveloped countries, hence they decided to support the government of Sierra Leone in both sectors because they were of the belief that the provision of constant electricity would enable children to study at night, while doctors and nurses could do their job effectively at hospitals.
Speaking during the visit, Councilor Ibrahim Adissaia Kamara of Word 365 in Constituency 102, Kissy Dockyard, said the lack of regular water supply had aqlways been a huge challenge in their community, especially during the dry season.
He narrated that when he was elected councilor, he and other stakeholders in the community wrote a project proposal to Action Contre la Faim International (ACF), a French non-governmental organisation working to improve access to clean water in the country.
He said, with the intervention of ACF, they were able to build a kiosk where they placed two 5,000 litres tank to store water and distribute to community residents whenever there was shortage.
“The initiative has been helpful a lot, especially to our girls in the community. Before now, they used to walk miles away to fetch water whenever the taps ceased to run and teenage pregnancy was common among those girls because some of them use the opportunity to go and see their boyfriends,” he said.