Report Reaching SALONE TIMES Newspaper revealed that the government of President Julius Maad Bio has mortgaged one of the few airfields in the country.
The report revealed that the Hasting airfield was mortgaged to Lebanese Wheeler-Dealer, Ahmed Mackie for which moneys was allegedly given to some officials of the government in return for the airfield.
When SALONE TIMES contacted the Communication Consultant at the Ministry of Lands and Country Planning, Abdul Fonti Kabia, he acquiesced to the fact that indeed Sierra Leone’s Hasting Airfield has been sold.
He however explained that the airfield was not sold by the Ministry of Lands but by the Ministry of Transport and Aviation.
He revealed that the Ministry of Lands only worked on a cabinet conclusion, noting that the people that were squatting on the land including those in the lorry park were compensated.
He pointed out that the company that has been given the land will construct a cement factory which will be beneficial to the people.
But sources from within the corridors of power stated that Mackie was given the Hasting Airfield in a dodgy manner and that other business people are now fighting for what is left of the land.
The people who were squatting at the land including the Lorry Park revealed that not a single penny was given to them as a form of compensation.
SALONE TIMES contacted Ahmed Mackie who confirmed to SALONE TIMES that the land in question was sold to him for the construction of a cement factory but failed to explain whether due process was followed as he promised to call back.
It could be recalled that local newspapers in Sierra Leone had earlier accused Ahmed Mackie of economic sabotage for which the Minister of Trade reportedly ordered Mackie’s cement warehouse to be shutdown.
