Addressing a news conference at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) yesterday, Deputy Minister 1 (MAFFS) Hon. Alie Badara Mansaray disclosed that his Ministry has bagged the sum of $ 8 million from the World Bank for the construction of feeder and trunk roads in Kailahun and Kono Districts.

He added that construction/rehabilitation of other feeder roads in the country, sponsored by the African Development Bank, World Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, is ongoing in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) and Local Councils.

Hon. Alie Badara Mansaray also highlighted that 1,234 feeder roads would be constructed nationwide but that as a result of inadequate funding, only 34 has been done affirming that due to the devolution process, Local Councils are now responsible for the construction/rehabilitation of feeder roads and also lamented at the bureaucracy and time consuming procedure in the procurement process.

In his keynote address, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS), Dr. Joseph Sam Sesay, revealed that his Ministry would no longer be involved in agricultural line chain alone but food supply, marketing and road construction/rehabilitation underscoring that feeder roads must be seen as a critical link to attain food self-sufficiency and recalled that over the years, the Ministry of Works was responsible for feeder roads but that when it closed down the situation degenerated.

According to Dr. Sesay, an assessment survey to link farmers to market centers nationwide was conducted a year ago and disclosed that with donor funding, 4000 kilometer roads would be constructed while 2000 kilometer roads would be rehabilitated countrywide highlighting that his Ministry has been championing the course to construct/rehabilitate feeder roads in the country.