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Ow di bodi? Pardon the cliché… but time does fly when you are having fun. It is now two years since the “Visit Sierra Leone” project was launched and what a couple of years we’ve had. The primary aim of tackling negative and outdated perceptions of Sierra Leone still sits at the core of our activities. How are we doing? We’ve come a long way but for those who know about the recent water crisis that hit Freetown – it is never going to be an easy road… more on the water crisis later.When we started in 2004, Sierra Leone and tourism was hardly mentioned in the same sentence – except maybe to say there is no hope for the industry. Now, a couple of years later and the Ministry of Tourism have put out a Tender Notice for the Formulation of a National Tourism Policy and Action plan for the development of the tourism industry in Sierra Leone. With the announcement that the contract for the construction of the final section of the peninsular road has been signed – one can safely say that the wheels of the tourism industry in Sierra Leone are well and truly in motion. In 2004, the Tourist Board did not have a web site but after close cooperation between them and VSL, we have launched their website which is helping to provide guidance for visitors to Sierra Leone. In those two years, there has been a few trips back to Sierra Leone and for those who may not have seen the pictures or read the feedback; I’ll run through the highlights. December 2004 – VSL organised our first trip to Bunce Island. This was a fantastic experience to visit a place of such historical significance for Sierra Leone. If you don’t believe me, read the article. http://forum.visitsierraleone.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=73 May 2005 – Driven by the desire to see more of Sierra Leone and the quest for information, I embarked on a journey through Bo, Makeni, Kenema and Kabala. http://forum.visitsierraleone.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=351 September 2005 – The opportunity came up to take part in a documentary for BBC World. Derek Moore (from Explore UK, Europe’s leading tour operator), Emily and Frank (BBC crew) and myself - went through Outamba Kilimi, Tiwai Island, Banana Island and other beaches. It was during this trip I saw my first whale in Sierra Leone waters. We had a fantastic time and are still in touch – in fact Emily and Frank may well be back in Freetown now. They not only love it but are doing some great work out there. http://forum.visitsierraleone.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=839 December 2005 – Smaller group to Bunce Island but just as much fun. To quote a one of the visitors – “for anyone interested in Sierra Leone, this is not a place where you should try to visit, it is a place you have to visit”. Nuff said. http://blogs.visitsierraleone.org/2006/02/bunce-island-december-2005.html March 2006 – I was back in Sierra Leone representing VSL in the country’s first international investment forum. http://blogs.visitsierraleone.org/2006/03/sierra-leone-diaspora-day-1.html Things are moving but there is still a long way to go and it is important that we keep our eyes on the ball. Personally, I would like to see the training of workers at all levels in the industry in service delivery and how tourists are to be treated – from the airport workers to the beach boys and back. The hazards of a tourism industry that is not properly planned, managed and controlled should be spelt out to the key drivers in the industry and it would be great for the waste management problem in Freetown to be tackled with serious commitment. The various road projects should be pursued with vigour as a lot depends on the infrastructure of the country. Then we would be properly on our way. Sierra Leone did have a vibrant tourism industry once upon a time but my understanding is that most of the workers in that era are now in The Gambia – driving their tourism industry on. The government has verbally committed to tapping into diaspora resource to plug skills gap in some areas. One can only hope this translates into action. In the last year, VSL was visited over 700,000 times and we continue to grow but like so many other organisations and companies – its survival depends on the general progress of the economy. So the years ahead are just as crucial as those gone by. In the year ahead will continue to provide services to benefit visitors to Sierra Leone. We will also continue to strengthen links with Sierra Leoneans in the Diaspora. We are already doing this through our vibrant forum community. The idea is also to develop a skills database/bank of individuals which may be of interest to companies looking to employ individuals from Sierra Leone and abroad. We are currently pursuing in association with JobSearch(SL). Water Wahala(problem)! <sigh> Ok, Freetown's being having a bit of a water crisis in the last few weeks. I heard it is slightly better now but still a major problem... there are multiple factors leading to this problem which include deforestation, lack of rains, overpopulation and of course Guma being broke. Whilst it would be easy to jump on the bash government bandwagon, this is quite a serious problem and finding a solution should undoubtedly be the focus. The "privatisation" word has been mentioned again but you can imagine how controversial that is! Funding needs to come from somewhere though and personally I feel some level of public private partnership or some way in which government would subsidise those who can least afford the service as opposed to carrying on the way it is run now. Other cheaper alternatives like http://www.pumpaid.org have also being mentioned. To find out more about the situation please have a look through some of these links: Guma Valley: No Money, Mo Problems What’s next for Guma Valley? Solution to SL's Water Problems And why dont you contribute to possible solutions: Water, Sanitation and Energy Crisis in Freetown A Town Hall-Style Meeting will be held on Date: AUGUST 12 2006 Time: 2pm -5pm Place: WoodLand Landing Hall, 10023 Greenbelt Rd Lanham, Maryland (MD) 20706 GOT EXPERTISE? YOU ARE INVITED. Visit http://sierraleoneportal.sl for more information. Forum topic of the month What’s next for Guma Valley? - We had been tracking the problems of Guma from April 2005 right through to the latest crisis. Share your thoughts and advice with forumites. That's all for now folks! Hope you have enjoyed using our site and services in the past year. We hope that you will continue to tell us ways in which we can do things even better in the future! Una Tenki! (Thank you all!) Bimbola |
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July Newsletter |
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