In a
bid to sanitize the timber export business in Sierra Leone, State House Chief
of Staff Mr. Saidu Conton Sesay on Tuesday 8 December met with concerned
stakeholders at State House in Freetown to discuss the new guidelines for
timber exporting.
Briefing stakeholders from different institutions on a fresh set
of do's and don'ts for timber companies, Saidu Conton Sesay said government has
granted permission to three companies to export timber within a specific period
of three months with regulatory measures. In what he referred to as stringent
measures, Mr. Sesay explained that the identified exporting companies would
sign performance bonds with government, comply with National Revenue Authority
(NRA) tax payment and adhere to joint monitoring at both the stuffing points
and at the port. The joint monitoring team, the Chief of Staff pointed out,
would comprise officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food
Security, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Office of National Security and the
Sierra Leone Police. He emphasized the need to not just record the serial
numbers of containers, but also send such records to the Office of Chief of
Staff in both hard and soft copies.
The Commissioner-General of the National Revenue Authority (NRA)
Haja Kallah Kamara called for specimen signatories of concerned authorities to
enhance transparency and accountability.
Construction and General Supply Limited at 7 Adelaide Street,
Banico Holdings at 91A Bai Bureh Road, and Consultancy Sierra Leone Limited at
3 Wilberforce Street respectively are the three authorized companies to export
timber just in three months period.
Source: Concord Times
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