The National Social Security and Insurance Trust on Monday 12th April 2021, handed over the site for the construction of a state-of-the-art Regional Office in Port Loko to the Leone Construction Company.

Handing over the structural design and the construction documents to the Chief Executive Officer of Leone Construction Company, the Resident Minister, Northwest Region, Madam Haja Isata Abdulai Kamara, expressed her gratitude to His Excellency Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio for appointing her as the first female Resident Minister for the newly created Northwest Region.She intimated that the construction of a Regional Office was a dream come true, as for far too long, people in that region of the country had challenges with the issue of accessing social services from not only NASSIT but other viable institutions. She explained that Port Loko was experiencing massive development under the tenure of the current Government so that they would be able to point at tangible development projects in the district when it was time to do so.

 The Resident Minister called on the Contractor to use the skilled and unskilled labour in the region and to consult her on any issue having to do with the building project.

 She promised to monitor the construction process and asked that the company take into consideration the local content policy by employing residents of the township for the various jobs.

Speaking on behalf of the local authorities, the Chiefdom Speaker, Chief Malampa M. A. Tarawally, described the day as a glorious one for the people of Northwest Region and Port Loko in particular. He said they had been anticipating the project for a long time and that they were more than happy that it was finally there.Chief Malampa used the occasion to express his gratitude to the President, His Excellency Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, for bringing development to the district and their region. He revealed that in less than three years, the President had brought tremendous development in their city such as a Girls Secondary school, the NASSIT structure and a Training Institute for building manpower capacity in the region.

 Concluding, the Chief appealed to Leone Construction Company to implement the local content policy by making use of their local labour in the construction process. “Port Loko has skilled and unskilled labour whose involvement will enhance community ownership of the project,” he stated.

 In his statement, the Deputy Director General of NASSIT, Mohamed Gondoe, reminded his audience that, “the Scheme (NASSIT) is a statutory Public Trust charged with the responsibility of providing social protection for the people of Sierra Leone based on the principles of Social Insurance”. “It”, according to Mr. Gondoe, “provides retirement and other benefits to meet the contingency needs of workers and their dependants”. The Deputy Director General said that in other to achieve its mandate, the Trust should provide affordable and accessible services to its members. “Unlike other service industries that focus on profit, NASSIT is concerned with the welfare of its members, and it is this motivation that has driven the Director General to ensure that NASSIT has an ultra-modern office in Port Loko”, he explained. He assured the Resident Minister and other stakeholders that the Project would be completed on record time, while calling on the community people to consider the project as a community project and give the contractor the best support. 

On his part, Peter Just Kenah, General Manager in charge of Administration and Human Resources, stated that in a bid to expanding coverage and bringing the Scheme closer to its members, the Director General saw the necessity of establishing an office in the Northwest Region. Consequently, a building was rented to temporarily house the operations of the office, and a land acquired to construct a permanent ultra-modern structure. He noted that the visit was a continuation of the bidding process to handover the site to the most responsive bidder, Leone Construction, in readiness for the commencement of the building process.He assured the gathering of the Director General’s commitment to ensuring that the project did not go beyond the stipulated 18 to 24 months.

Making a statement, the Project Manager, Abel Onomake, intimated the gathering that the visit was to handover the site to the Leone Construction company, who emerged as the most responsive bidder out of a rigorous   bidding process that comprised Eighteen competitors. He congratulated them on their performance but reiterated that the most difficult task was ahead to transform the land into an edifice.’I am hopeful you will live up to expectation and deliver on your promise, he said.’ He assured his audience that the structure would have facilities and equipment that will match up to any standard ranging from fire prevention, solar system, a strong ICT with a massive firewall and speedway internet system that would accommodate the kind of job done by NASSIT. 

Receiving the site, the Chief Executive Officer of Leone Construction Company, Brima Keita, expressed appreciation to NASSIT for the opportunity offered to his company. He assured NASSIT and the Stakeholders that he was determined to exceed their expectations in record time.”I have a proven record in the Region with my handiwork of the new Airport terminal”, he said.

NASSIT, WE CARE.