-Deputy CEO, RMFA
July 26, 2019
By Frederick V. Kanneh
Bashirr Sherriff, RMFA deputy chief
Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Road Maintenance Fund Administration (RMFA), Bashirr Sherriff, has on Wednesday 24th July, 2018, told Concord Times in an exclusive interview that the road sector is an important segment in the country’s development and that it ‘needs credible and comprehensive data system’.
Sheriff spoke to this medium just after the one day national data producers, and users’ workshop organized by Statistics Sierra Leone, at the Miata Conference Centre in Freetown.
“Road sector is an important sector in this country because all developmental processes are attributed to road. So, it is worth noting that the road sector needs credible and comprehensive data system,” he said.
He said management has decided to introduce a software system known as the Management Information System (MIS) which would be used to generate a comprehensive data, adding that the software would be given to the Sierra Leone Road Authority to be used in the sector.
When asked as to why the workshop was important to them, the Deputy CEO noted that his institution is one of the main data users in sierra Leone, and that the workshop was vital for the road sector, hence worth attending.
He pointed out that the mission statement of his organization is to secure and manage fund in cost effective manner so as to ensure timely routine and periodic maintenance of the National Road Network, adding that if they were to effectively secure and manage funds for the periodic maintenance of the road network in Sierra Leone, then, the need for credible and balance data cannot be over emphasized.
He maintained that it is only through data that they would, among others, know how to disburse yearly allocation to the different councils across the country; the number of roads that needed maintenance per district; how to approve funding for the said roads; and how to monitor and evaluate the performances of the engineers that were charged with the maintenance responsibilities.
He said his institution had been discussing couple of times for comprehensive data which were to serve as evidence based data that would be used at the road sector, and that the workshop taught him a lot in terms of data processing.
He assured that he was ready to take what he learnt to the management of the Road Maintenance Fund Administration and explicitly explain to them about the importance of data in the road sector.