By Amin Kef Sesay
A donation ceremony was held by CRSG and WAOMC on Friday 2nd July 2021 at the Mabillah Community in the Koya Chiefdom, Northwest of Sierra Leone.
This golden development support came at a time when China and Sierra Leone are celebrating 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
CRSG and WAOMC donated bags of rice and veronica buckets and paint to the community and the Sierra Leone Islamic Federation Islamic Primary School, expressing hope that they will help the community residents and pupils to overcome some of the difficulties posed by COVID-19.
China Railway Seventh Group (CRSG) since it started operations in Sierra Leone in 2007 and officially undertook the first highway engineering contract project in December, has developed into a diversified development company, which mainly focuses on road and bridge construction projects, and extends its business scope to housing construction projects, mining, and international trade. The Chinese company has been at the very heart of Sierra Leone’s infrastructural drive and has distinguished itself, particularly in the area of road construction, to the extent that it has become a household name in the country.
The CRSG undertook some of these projects including but not limited to the Lungi-Port Loko Road; the Mange-Mambolo Road; the Grafton-Regent Road; the widening of Wilkinson Road; the Bo-Kenema Highway; the Makeni-Matotoka Road; and the widening to a four-lane road of the Wellington-Masiaka Highway.
The 62 kilometers Wellington-Masiaka Highway offers Sierra Leoneans unique infrastructural opportunities with massive social, economic, and financial benefits. One of the major benefits of this project is the reduction in the travel time between Freetown and Masiaka. Before this project, traveling from Freetown to Masiaka used to be painstakingly arduous. Users spent hours to cover the distance and that adversely affected schedules and businesses. With the highway now expanded and up and running, users can spend at least an hour covering the distance. This has eased the burden and improved efficiency of traffic, work-life as well as reducing the cost of time.
CRSG is working together with the West African Operations and Management Company (WAOMC), the operating company of the Wellington-Masiaka highway authorized by the Government of Sierra Leone. WAOMC has introduced an advanced expressway operation system from China and formulated an efficient management mode based on the national conditions of Sierra Leone to better operate the first toll road in the history of Sierra Leone. Since the official opening of operation in 2017, it has consistently, steadily, and regularly provided high-quality service to drivers and the company created new kinds of jobs.
It is clear that both CRSG and WAOMC attach great importance to corporate social responsibility, especially in the event of major diseases and disasters. A clear example was seen during the Ebola outbreak in 2014 when the CRSG donated money and materials to the Government and the public; rescued people and saved properties during the landslide and mudslide disaster in Freetown in August 2017; supported the Government in reducing charges for a certain period during the COVID-19 epidemic last year, etc. Those efforts have been widely praised by the Government, people and media of Sierra Leone.
