In an exclusive interview with the Chief Administration Human Resource Officer of Africell Sierra Leone, Andrew S. Fatorma, he said that most of their staff were challenged with housing problems which had been a perennial constraint for most of them.
According to Mr Fatorma, Africell as a company that seeks the welfare of its staff wanted their long serving staff to own their own houses. He added that their first target was to secure the land which would eventually be improved upon as long as the company stayed in business.
“It’s a loyalty programme and employees who have been providing dedicative service to the company for couples of years will be the beneficiaries”, he affirmed.
Mr Fatorma continued that during the launch of the project they were able to identified 51 staff who were qualified in terms of years of service.
He disclosed that the land for the Afri-city was located at York Village in the Freetown Peninsula, adding further that the land had been acquired by the company and very soon the staff would be assigned their plots of land.
The Africell Chief Administration Human Resource Officer noted that they would meet all necessary conditions the Government and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) require. “We’re basically looking at large plots by dividing them into various portions and so far we have about seventy-four and staff will benefit from these portions”, he disclosed.
He reiterated that they would reserve some plots for basic amenities such as a playground, sports club, kids playing ground etc. He pointed out that it was too early to name a price tag, adding that the initiative had just started and that it was an ongoing expense with a huge capital which would be beneficial to their employees.
Andrew S. Fatorma concluded that the staff of Africell Sierra Leone would be the beneficiaries, adding that it would only be a brand for the company where the employees were the owner of this Afri-city.
He noted that the engagement process with the beneficiaries was quite clear as to how they would be maintaining the Afri-city which would be communicated to them “as time goes on”, stating that as a company one of their goals was striving to meet their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).