SLRSA & Executive of Metal Dealers Association Meet

The Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority [SLRSA] met with the Executive members of the Sierra Leone Scrap Metal Dealers Association on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, at the Authority’s headquarters on Kissy Road in Freetown.

The objective of the meeting was to discuss some key issues identified by the Authority which are related to the business of scrap metals in the country.

SLRSA’s Executive Director, Rev. Smart Kelson Senesie, expressed appreciation to the Executive members of the Association for responding to the call of the Authority. He disclosed that the business in scrap metal is a very important one as it provides employment and is an avenue for mobilizing taxes for Government. He advised the Association to operate within the confines of the law.

The Executive Director highlighted some key concerns that he requested both the scrap metal dealers and the Authority to jointly address referencing the sale of vehicles as scrap and the disposal of Vehicle Number Plates without contacting the Authority. He said vehicle number plates were the properties of the SLRSA and therefore they must be returned to the Authority before the sale of any vehicle as scrap.

He informed the meeting that the Authority has the mandate to keep data of all vehicles in the country adding that for a vehicle to be sold as scrap without the return of the registration plate will distort the data of vehicles in the country. Rev. Smart admonished the Association to collaborate with the Authority in order to address the concerns raised.

The President of the Association, Abdulai Daboh revealed that the Association has a membership of over 29,000 people. He said they deal in Brass, Copper, Aluminum, Plastic, and Batteries. He, however, noted that as an Executive they had cautioned their membership to always do legal business and to desist from buying Government assets without going through the due process.

Acting Director of Transport at SLRSA, Daniel C. Kaitibie said SLRSA is the Government agency responsible for the regulation of the road transport industry with a responsibility to keep data of all registered vehicles in the country and warned against the disposal of vehicles as scraps without the approval of the Authority.

Public Relations Manager SLRSA, Abdul Karim Dumbuya noted that the storage of scrap metals in certain environments and movement through push carts “Omolankays” is a challenge to Road Safety as pedestrians are often exposed to danger.

He called for the development of policies and regulations to guide the disposal of vehicles as scraps.

Other notable contributions were made by the Planning Manager, James Stevens, and Research and Development Manager, Ambrose Tucker.

The meeting was chaired by the SLRSA Company Secretary, Abu Bakarr Sheriff, who reminded the scrap metal dealers that, rights go with responsibility and appealed to them to always be mindful of their rights and responsibilities when conducting their trade.