Archive for June, 2009
Sierra Leone Population According To 2004 Census
June 30th, 2009 | 
Author: The population of Sierra Leone is nearing the 5 million (less than the population of London 
)mark according to this document from the National Statistics Board. This makes interesting reading as it gives details of the demographics including the population of each district.
Click here for the Sierra Leone Population And Housing Census Tables
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My Shocking Trip To Customs & The Scent Of Corruption
This is very difficult for me to write but needless to say, for varied reasons, I need to pen it down.
My goods arrived and I was notified by the shipping agent to collect it. Now you may ask what goods I imported. The answer is very ordinary everyday goods and provisions for our personal use. Due to the high cost of goods here in Sierra Leone, it’s best to import even simple things like toothbrush! yes you have to believe me – Simple cornflakes will set you back $5 or more / Le 20,000 (I’ll do a pricing page here soon so you know what I’m talking about).
Now back to the main subject of my post today. The trip to the Quay was harrowing, being passed around from desk to desk, making payments for simple forms that I believe should be available for free.
There’s no clear public statement showing how much should be paid for which type of good conveniently leaving room for manipulation. As a result one is left at the mercy of whoever you meet that day. By the time I made the last round, I’d paid more than Le1.2million.
Now I can hear you say, “what’s wrong with that?” Well nothing, except when I received a receipt of ONLY Le200,000.oo right at the exit! In fact, it was squeezed surreptitiously into my hand in such a way that before taking a look, I wondered why the guy was acting so shiftily.You can appreciate that by this time(after 3.00pm) I was so tired all I could think of was getting away.
Now when I think about it, I see how corruption is robbing this country!!! If what I paid was right, then the government should receive all the Le1.2 million but with an official receipt of only Le200,000.00, I can imagine that’s all it’ll receive. So where did the rest go to?
>>Heck, is Salone going to continue to shamefully beg for money from foreign donors whilst this low-down dirty behaviour is tolerated? The whole customs sytem needs some serious overhauling to cut down corruption to minimum.
If attitudes need changing, surely this is one place to do it!
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Posted in Freetown Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Development, Sierra Leone News | 
Tags: corruption | 
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The Electricity Situation In Freetown
I thought I should write a little bit about the reality of electricity in Freetown. Obviously, all my comments are based on where I live (Lumley) and I can’t vouch for other areas.
Since we came in Jan 2008, it’s been touch and go with the electricity. Then, we had light almost every night with the power on for all the weekend (both night & day). Then it became steadily worse where we had light only about 3 nights a week with plus all weekend (day and night). Fast forward to September ’08 when the Muslim festival was in progress and the light was about the same.
Things were very bad – I mean VERY BAD in November ’08 where the was light only about 1 night a week and sometimes none at all. Around Dec ’08 things improved. Jan ’09 was similar to December but has since then it’s become steadily worse. As I write this, June ’09, we tend to have light 3 nights the working week and maybe – just maybe during the day on Sat or Sun. At night when we need it most, we have to use a generator.
As dire and backward as the situation is, I still have hope the the Bumbuna Dam will come through and at last… there’ll be 24 hour light.
Next time, I’ll write about the types and current prices of generators available and that I’ve seen people use…
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A Picnic At Leicester Peak…
Now, talk about a trip to well…not quite heaven but something awesome! My hubby came up with the suggestion (he’s a romantic at heart ) to picnic at the top of Freetown’s highest peak.
So we loaded up our goodies and headed for Leicester Peak. The children were truly excited and couldn’t keep calm. For anyone who lives in Freetown, the approach can be daunting and you always wonder how you’ll get there.
I’ve been at Leicester Peak several times before but never have I seen it like this: the summit was literally covered in clouds. By the time we got to the top, visibility was down to only a few feet. It was an awesome experience and quite rightly my daughter commented on being able to touch the clouds! Needless to say, we enjoyed the super cool temperature (@ about 23 celsius ) plus the contents of our picnic basket having spread our blanket at the back of the car.
There were a few other tourists there who took endless pictures….
Once again, another highly recommended place to visit when in Freetown….:)
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Posted in Freetown Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Beaches |
Tags: freetown, freetown sierraleone, Places to visit, tourism |
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