May 8, 2018
Amb. Maher Almahdy, Amb. Wu Peng and Yassin Kargbo
The Chinese and Egyptian ambassadors in Sierra Leone, Ambassador Wu Peng and Ambassador Maher Almahdy respectively, and a host of the Chinese community in Sierra Leone last Saturday, May 5, joined the National Tourist Board to clean Lumley Beach as part of the first National Cleaning Saturday sanctioned by President Julius Maada Bio.
The cleaning operation, which was code named “Beautify Lumley”, attracted highly motivated local people within the Lumley Beach area, who joined in cleaning the entire vicinity of the beach.
The two ambassadors jointly donated Le 15 million to the National Tourist Board to further support the beautification of the iconic Lumley Beach.
In his statement at the cleaning event, Ambassador WU Peng said the ‘Beautify Lumley’ project was mainly focused on President Bio’s recently re-instituted compulsory National Cleaning Saturday, which he noted would enhance sanitation and beautification of communities around Freetown and throughout the country.
He noted that Lumley Beach was one of the adorable beaches in the country in terms of its natural scenery and recreational facilities like bars, hotels, which serves as a huge economic and investment potential that would attract tourists to the country.
While speaking on Chino-Sierra Leone relations, Ambassador Wu said the two countries have enjoyed traditional friendship and fruitful outcomes of cooperation in various areas over the past decades and that the Chinese community in Sierra Leone would always do their best to fulfil the corporate social responsibility of their various companies.
He pointed out that Chino-Sierra Leone relationship remains unbending and that China would always continue to support and implement projects that would be in the best interest of every Sierra Leonean, thereby creating a win-win situation for the two nations.
Also, the Egyptian Ambassador to Sierra Leone reiterated the friendly ties between Sierra Leone and his country and pointed out that China was a great friend of Africa.
“It is a beautiful day today and we are glad to be here. The Chinese Ambassador and I, we think we belong to Sierra Leone, that is why we are here. We are proud to be part of the campaign to clean Lumley Beach. We want it always clean and attractive so let make it a great day,” Ambassador Maher Almahdy said.
General Manager of the National Tourist Board, Yassin Kargbo, said they were very happy to have the representatives of two great nations join them to clean the Lumley Beach area, adding that the two ambassadors manifest great interest in tourism.
He said that the board was ready to working with both embassies and their enterprises across the country, noting that the donated money would be used to buy more tools and support their other activities.
The two ambassadors were seen among jubilant community people and the representatives of various Chinese companies collecting trash on Lumley Beach.