Sierra Leone's diplomatic community probes development hitches
Freetown, Sierra Leone - Members of the diplomatic community in Sierra Leone at the weekend embarked on a one-day field trip to two districts outside F reetown, in an effort to see first hand the problems affecting the growth of the districts.
The diplomats, from China, Germany, Ghana, Nigeria, Britain and the US, as well as the Commissioner of the European Union and the Special Representative of the U nited Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL), visited the southern B o district, some 272 kilometres from Freetown, and the Eastern Kenema District, 3 19 kilometers from the city.
According to United Nations Communications Officer Sheku Bakarr Kamara, the field trip enabled the diplomats to meet with provincial authorities, political parties, political parties registration commission, Sierra Leone Police, Office o f National Security, Civil Society Organizations and Paramount Chiefs to identif y the economic and social challenges being faced by the Southern and Eastern part s of the country.
A diplomat, who preferred anonymity, said two thirds of approved developmental p rojects costing tens of millions of US dollars were approved for the two areas.
"The trip will give us an opportunity to listen to what the people have to say t o us," the diplomat said
