The recently reinstated Maritime Administration’s Executive Director (ED), Paul Sobba Massaquoi, hit the ground running by attending the just concluded International Maritime Organization (IMO) general assembly in London, Britain.
At this all-important conference, he laid before the IMO Secretary General the Sierra Leone maritime Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), which was ratified by the Sierra Leone House of Parliament and later domesticated through his efforts as his first project when he was appointed Executive Director (ED) in 2020.
Mr Massaquoi’s vision since his appointment is to see that Sierra Leone earns the full status of a White-listed country. This means any country, according to the European Commission, that ensures an adequate level of protection by reason of its domestic law or of the international commitments it has entered into will be white-listed. As for Sierra Leone, becoming a white-listed country means a lot in terms of increase in the country’s blue economy which the current ED wants to see happen.
His recent attendance at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) general assembly in London has brought the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration back to the limelight at the IMO, which has prompted the IMO to visit Sierra Leone in April this year to inspect the entire Maritime in terms of its readiness and capacity to be a white-listed country.
Some of the things the IMO will be looking at, when they come to Freetown in April this year, are the Maritime lighthouse which is considered one of the IMO’s navigational tools, inspection of the country’s aids to navigation, as well as some of the internal systems in place to monitor activities at sea.
Meanwhile, staff of the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration (SLMA) and the Government Wharf community on 31 January 2023 welcomed Paul Sobba Massaquoi at a ceremony at its Government Wharf headquarters in Freetown.
He was suspended six months after taking office and was investigated for various offences, including corruption, for which he and six other staff members were later exonerated.
In his speech, titled “Peace, Reconciliation, Progress and Forgiveness”, Mr Massaquoi commended the Board for its exemplary performance. He stated that during his six months of effective duties before his suspension, he rebranded the SLMA into a twenty-first century corporate institution; ensured that the country had safe and secured cleaner seas, and promoted sustainable exploitation of the country’s Blue Economy by endorsing and enforcing its statutory obligations.
Mr Paul Sobba informed his audience that under his administration, SLMA had recently ratified/acceded to 31 Maritime Conventions and Treaties. He noted that he went to court for the refurbishment of its headquarters building; established 24-hours marine radio services; established nationwide presence from Sulima to Yeliboya as well as signed various MoUs with stakeholders.
The Executive Director had promised to survey and install aids to navigate in all navigable waterways; supply and distribute 10,000 life jackets; install radio communication to 14 stations nationwide; supply and commission five new Zodiac boats; rehabilitate four existing boats; construct a Search and Rescue Centre on Bonthe Island; employ and send 400 Sierra Leoneans onboard Sierra Leone flagged vessels; construct jetties for inspection and local communities, and launch a Maritime Training Academy and contemporary Maritime Safety Programmes.