By Richmond B. Tholley
Chiefdoms in the operational areas of Leone Rock Metal Group in the Northern District of Tonkolili are expressing dissatisfaction over what they described as the multinational company’s total neglect of the road leading and connecting the communities to the rest of the world.
It’s an everyday debate in Dasogoia, Sambaia, Kalanthuba, and Simiria chiefdoms over the failure of Leone Rock Metal Group to help uplift major roads in its operational communities, especially the road leading from Magburaka to Bumbuna.
The Magburaka-Bumbuna road connects the rest of the company’s operational communities to the world. It’s the main road residents and even the company officials used to access the communities and bigger towns. Unfortunately, residents said the company does not seem to treat the issue of the road with seriousness.
Recently, the fierce debates each time the issue of the Bumbuna-Magburaka road is mentioned on various WhatsApp groups and other social media platforms show residents and indigenes from chiefdoms and communities that hosted Leone Rock Metal Group aren’t pleased with the company over its failure to change the status of the road.
Leone Rock Metal Group is one of the largest resource investment companies in West Africa.
The asset encompasses an open pit iron ore mine and surface operations located in Ferengbeya, Tonkolili, a 192 KM railway, and an integrated train discharge, ore processing, and ship loading port located in Pepel, Northwest Sierra Leone.
The company acquired the Tonkolili mines in January 2020, with proven reserves of 13.8 billion tons. So far, Kingho Mining Company has obtained a total of 18.8 billion tons of proven iron ore reserves and prospective 30 billion + tons of iron ore resource upon further exploration.
However, it’s shameful and sad to hear that Bumbuna town and the other neighboring chiefdoms of Sambaia, Kalanthuba, and Simiria that hosted the multinational company are having the worst and most dilapidated roads in the country.
“It’s sad that after many years, these bigger companies, especially the Leone Rock Metal Group, can’t help us construct the Bumbuna Road. The sad reality is that the officials of the company are also using this same road in all of their official functions or trips,” Mohamed Kargbo, a resident, said.
The Magburaka-Bumbuna road is so dilapidated that it has had adverse effects on residents in so many ways. During the rainy seasons, prices of commodities will increase because of the road. As a result of the many constraints drivers and commercial bike riders faced to transport goods from Magburaka to Bumbuna and other neighboring villages or towns, there has been an increase in transportation.
“Every year, especially in the rainy season, commercial bike riders are involved in accidents, and many of them have deformed,” Foray Marrah, an Okada Rider, said.
Recently, a lawmaker from Tonkolili District, Hon Jawa Sesay, also joined constituents from the area in advocating for the road.
When contacted via WhatsApp, Leone Rock Deputy Community Affairs Manager, Robert Salia Kamara, said it’s not only the company’s vehicle using the said road. Kamara said other companies using the road also have a part to play to uplift the road.
“We should also not lose sight of the fact it is not only our [Leone Rock Metal Group] vehicles plying that road. What about the Hydro and other companies?” Salia wrote on WhatsApp.
All of us have parts to play in getting the best for our people,” Salia added.
However, the Deputy Community Affairs Manager added that they, as a company, are committed to doing anything that can better the lives of the people. That’s why the company has deployed equipment to ensure there’s maintenance on the road where necessary until the dry season.
“Our machines are presently deployed along the road, but we should also not forget that roads cannot be properly fixed during the rainy season,” the manager said.
Contrary to the company’s Deputy Community Affairs Manager assertions, residents think that Leone Rock Metal Group and other multinational companies operating in the area are merely putting up arguments to cover up their negligence. The question people are asking is for how long the company has been in the area that it can’t do what it is supposed to do to uplift the road.
