AML rated fastest mine in Africa

A recent preliminary result has shown that the London listed iron ore miner, African Minerals (SL) Limited (AML) is “Africa’s fastest major mine development…and the largest iron ore exporter in West Africa”. The company, with significant interest in Sierra Leone, saw its world class mine commence the ramp up to 20 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) across its 200 kilometer rail and port infrastructure network, north of the country. According to a statement released Thursday 3 April 2014 for the year ended 31 December 2013, “the company produced 13.1 million tonnes (Mt) of iron ore and exported 12.1 million tonnes to become the largest contributor to Sierra Leone’s gross domestic product (GDP)”. “The first quarter for 2014 has started encouragingly, and the fully integrated mine, plant, rail, port, marine operation saw AML produce 5.3 Mt of saleable product while exporting 4.6 Mt in the quarter, and become the largest iron ore exporter in West Africa”. Chief Executive Officer of African Minerals, Bernie Pryor, said: “2013 saw the completion of construction of Phase I at our Tonkolili iron ore mine in Sierra Leone. The integrated mine, plant, rail, port and marine operations achieved the 20Mtpa run rate on several occasions in the year with ongoing optimisation producing a record fourth quarter for both mining and shipments. I am pleased to report that this strong performance has continued into the current year, with new records of 5.3Mt produced and 4.6Mt shipped in the first quarter of 2014. This level of demonstrated continued improvement, quarter on quarter, provides the basis for our 16-18Mt sales guidance for 2014 and average C1 cash cost range of $34-36/t. The coming year will see a focus on meeting this guidance and driving C1 cash costs down towards the $30/t level once production stabilises at 20Mtpa. Tonkolili’s Phase II early engineering has been approved by the project Board. Construction is on track to commence in H2 with the objective of increasing annual production initially to the 25Mtpa rate, including production of a higher value concentrate product.” African Minerals Limited is a mineral exploration, development and mining company, and is the developer and operator of the Tonkolili Iron Ore Project, with a Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) compliant resource of 12.8 billion tonnes. The Project, which currently has over 60 year mine-life, is being developed in a number of staged expansions.

NCDs: A Growing Global Heath Threat

What are NCDs
A non-communicable Disease is a disease that is not spread through contact or germs. It is caused by how people live (e.g. harmful lifestyle behavior) , conditions that they are born with (either genetic , inherited or due to unknown causes) , or exposure to environmental hazards (e.g. second hand smoke, fumes, toxic substances etc.).

The main lifestyle related risk factors of NCDs are tobacco use, inadequate eating habits, physical inactivity and alcohol misuse, all of which are avoidable and preventable social determinants that also increase high blood pressure, dyslipidemia and obesity.

• Why should the world take notice of NCDs?

“To do justice by our duty as the voice of all those who have been affected by NCDs, and to protect the lives of all those who will be affected by them in the coming years, we need to ensure that NCDs receive a new label marked “urgent action required now.” Her Royal Highness, Princess Mired.

The WHO has identified the following chronic diseases as the main threats to human health: cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases: “These four diseases are the main causes of death and disability worldwide, representing about 60% of deaths and 44% of early deaths (35 Million deaths every year, 80% of which occur in low and middle income countries”

NCDs represent a serious public health issue and are a health emergency worldwide. Deaths from NCDs are rising quicker in Africa than in the rest of the world (27%), with the Eastern Mediterranean region (25%) a close second. The highest absolute number of deaths will occur in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions. In spite of the severity of the situation and the enormous strain they have on health systems worldwide, the funding to fight NCDs is only 1% of the total funding that is dedicated to development.

The negative impact of NCDs has increased due to urbanization, the modifications of lifestyles, growing reach and power of corporations that promote the use of harmful substances (unhealthy food, etc), social inequality and poverty, difficulty in access to affordable health systems, and political and social inaction.

NCDs deepen social inequality since they have a greater impact on poor, less educated people, members of certain ethnic groups, women, children and the elderly, all of whom have lower access to health services, thus hindering human development, counteracting the efforts in the fight against poverty and increasing health inequalities. Despite this, NCDs are still not part of the political agenda of most countries and the Millennium Development Goals.

Prevention and control of NCDs is not only a health strategy, but also a development intervention as a key action in ensuring sustainable human rights and human development. There are several international treaties in which States have assumed obligations and commitments to guarantee essential human rights that are directly connected to the prevention and control of NCDs. However, implementation of these treaties is insufficient.

Some Ministers from National Health Department have made comments like: “Health systems are nearly bankrupt and prevention on NCD’s is the solution” and “because of the current economic situation it is necessary to prioritize prevention”. There is as a result, an emerging tension in 2011 between those who believe that such a meeting should concentrate on prevention and those who believe that support and research for a cure for NCDs is also crucial.

While a focus on prevention, where possible, is necessary, it is vital that similar importance be given to research and to providing affordable, accessible, quality care for patients already suffering from cancer as well as for those suffering unpreventable cancers.

Cancer

By Alpha Bedoh Kamara


So bizarre my people feel about it

So far related the majority sneers at it

Yet so calamitous- the toll rises

But among the crowd are those that shiver

Knowing the fate that awaits

To struck beyond repair

If threats are left unattended




So bizarre the taboos awaits

Those that fall victims

Of the related-that the majority sneers at

Yet so calamitous- the toll rises

But among the crowd are those that shiver

Knowing the fate that awaits

And believe the majority must hear

The campaign against the disease


Cancer!!







I dedicate this poem to the millions of people suffering from cancer in the world.

.

Tribal Heads Challenge Under-age Bondo In Freetown

The campaign against the initiation of children under age (18 and below) into Bondo is positively getting the support of traditional stakeholders with Soweis and traditional heads in the Western Area unanimously supporting the abolishment of under-aged bondo in Freetown.


Soweis, tribal heads and representatives from the Ministry of Social Welfare, Freetown City Council, Family Support Unit and other stakeholders made recommendations for the banning of child bondo in the Western Area on Tuesday at the Council of Churches Sierra Leone.

The Mende Tribal head, Chief Matthew Jibao Young, said bondo is not a bad culture and that looking back at the history of Sierra Leone, one of the most powerful women, Madam Yoko, was famous because of bondo.

“She was not initiating children but matured women who went through training of womanhood, well prepared to face the world,” adding that today children are being taken for initiation and will come out knowing nothing about the purpose of bondo.

“We the Council of Tribal Heads want every sowei to join the sowei council,” he said, noting that that will bring sanity to the process.

He said there are many women on the prowl claiming to be soweis and causing lots of trouble and that many of them are the ones initiating children.

“We must start to expose them and ensure that 18 year-old girls and below are no longer initiated in our communities,” he said.

According to most of the soweis, the reason for the high rate of teenage pregnancies in the country is caused by early initiation of girls before the age of maturity.

Chief Young however implored the soweis that for them to be able to implement their duties successfully they, soweis, and women in Sierra Leone must champion the cause to the fullest.

The president of the sowei council, Koloneh Sesay, implored her colleagues to revive bondo to what it used to be in the days of Madam Yoko, adding that children know nothing to be initiated into bondo.

He said they will all benefit immensely when bondo is practiced as it was and that in those days initiations are carried out with the consent of chiefs.

“There is no respect gained by initiating children into bondo,” he said.

The Social Development officer in the Ministry of Social Welfare, Mariatu Bangura, said Soweis should now be looking at the age of the girl to be initiated before accepting her for the ceremony.

“We are happy as a ministry that soweis are supporting the process of addressing the problem of underage bondo,” she said, and citing the Child Rights Act, Bangura said “Article 19 of the Convention states that State Parties must "take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence.

“You should now refuse children taken to you for initiation,” she said,

However, people contacted in the communities said despite the issues being raised many children are initiated in the provinces in the presence of traditional elders.

“The capacity and willingness must be there to tackle the issue,” Salamatu Kamara, a teacher at the Ansarul Primary school Wellington said, adding that Government should target education institutions, traditional and societal heads and made them commit to the campaign against childhood bondo.

“Blood Timber” For Sale! - Stop the practice says Greenpeace

Fiona Musana, Greenpeace Africa communications manager

Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and her government should stop the
flow of azobè timber from a country recovering from decades-long
conflict. Marred by a bloody history, many Liberians not only lost
their lives but also resources like diamonds, and timber that was
illegally logged during the conflict, and shipped to Italy in February
2009. This timber is planned for use in maintenance of Rome’s Metro
system.

A detailed history of how the timber, abandoned after the war, got to
Italy can be found in a March 2009 Sustainable Development Institute
(SDI) briefing paper “The Hunter’s Whistle.” The paper finds that the
Liberian Forest Development Agency (FDA) authorised the shipment of
timber, despite several illegal activities that occurred during the
auction and sale of the logs. (1)

While the FDA is the manager and regulator of the forests, reports
including by the UN Panel of Experts in Liberia, in its December 2008
noted that the “high level of discretion being used by senior FDA
management in implementation of some aspects of the National Forestry
Reform Law and FDA regulations is of concern” (2)

With diamonds banned on the international market, the then president
Taylor turned to timber, doling out large chunks of forests in
exchange for money and arms. Most of the cargo was bought by Italian
company Interwood Srl, which recently won a €720,000 contract with
Me.Tro Roma Spa, the company responsible for upgrading Rome’s metro
system.

“This blood timber they plan to use in our train tracks has fuelled
destruction, war and climate change” said Chiara Campione, Greenpeace
Italy forest campaigner. “As one of the biggest gateways in Europe for
illegally logged timber, Italy is a disgrace. It is way past time the
Italian government stopped funding the illegal timber trade, and
instead started doing something to save the climate by committing to
fund forest protection.”

Tropical deforestation is responsible for 20% of global greenhouse gas
emissions. Ending forest destruction is one of the fastest and easiest
ways to avert catastrophic climate change.

Although President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf scrapped all timber
concessions issued under previous regimes as her first executive act
upon election in 2005, three forest management contracts were recently
presented to parliament for ratification.

Greenpeace warns that a decision by the Liberian Legislature to ratify
these and subsequent contracts will have disastrous consequences for
the country’s development and the long-term sustainability of forest
resources. An overhaul of the system and personnel in FDA is critical
and public dialogue on alternative use of the remaining forests
essential.

This potential disaster must be stopped now, before the country and
other African nations like the Democratic Republic of Congo commit
themselves to long, large scale logging agreements on false and
illegal premises.

Nurses Owe Patients Their Care

The First Lady of Sierra Leone, Mrs. Sia Nyama Koroma has called on nurses to change their attitudes toward patients in their care.
The First lady made this statement during the launching of the Health for All Coalition Sierra Leone at the PCM Hospital on Wednesday, also stating, “We owe the patients their care. Our attitudes as nurses should change,” she said.
She said her focus on health is borne out of the commitment to make a difference in the lives and children and women in the country, stating that her office want to examine the role that people who are entrusted with roles to perform do so in the best interest of the people.
Duties
She said most nurses in reproductive health care are not up to their duties and that their attitudes toward pregnant women are poor and therefore called upon all to realize their roles in society as crucial to society.
A representative of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Magnus Gborie, said Sierra Leone has the highest of child death in the world and that 1300 women died of pregnancy related causes out of 100,000 reported cases.
“We are not happy about this development. In England the best performing doctors are Sierra Leoneans. But where are we today; this is a very serious situation,” he lamented.
Poor capacity
He said one of the obstacles is poor human resource management strategy and that the Ministry has realized that if Sierra Leone should achieve the Millennium Development Goals, they should focus to improving this strategy.
Gborie also disclosed that the National Health Service Commission has been approved by Parliament and that its purpose is to improve the health sector to reach the people with medical care.
He said the Ministry is please to have HFAC as partners in the campaign for health for all in Sierra Leone and that he believes that monitoring health service sector around the country will ensure good service delivery.
A pregnant woman admitted at the PCM Hospital, Aminata Samura, said women are suffering in Sierra Leone and that some patients admitted in hospitals died due to fear of demands for more payment by doctors for treatment.
Late Clinics
“Some pregnant women repot late in clinics because they cannot afford to pay to hospitals and ended dying in their homes,” she said, adding that many of these women are responsible for their homes.
The Chairman of HFAC, Charles Mambu, said Sierra Leoneans should not be dying for curable illnesses if they could not afford to pay the fees.
“The idea of money before treatment should stop. Sierra Leoneans should be provided with the medical care they needed,” he noted.
Meanwhile the coalition is to monitor all health sector providers to ensure that Sierra Leoneans receive medical treatment, especially pregnant women and children.

Support For Women In Politics Is Still Poor

By Alpha B. Kamara
Out of a total of 230 female contestants in the 2008 Local Government Elections, only 86 made it through despite the relentless efforts by the International Community and local campaigners on gender equity in Governance and politics.
A government source disclosed that over 125 female contestants failed to make it to council and that data from Bonth District is still under investigation as there are issues to be addressed.
The Government Officer said 35 contestants make it through to councils in the Western and Western-Rural areas, also stating that the level of support for women participation in governance and politics is still poor.
He said women still face cultural and traditional obstacles and that the stigma of being viewed as inferiors to men is still perceived by majority of the people, especially rural women, who believe that a woman must be controlled by a man and not be seen to act as a man in society.
“The figure is discouraging. Women should reach out to the grassroots and discuss with their colleagues about the need to support each other to achieve their goal in society,” he said.
Mrs. Amy Smythe, a consultant for the National Democratic Institute, recently stated that women are a force to reckon with in the decision-making process in society, and that Government should enhance women’s participation in Governance; that women groups should strengthen a coalition of civil society to address gender issues, and also to provide political skills to women for effective political participation.
NDI Country Director, Mrs. Honorine Muyoyeta, said although the August 11 and September 8 Presidential Elections marked a significant milestone in the history of Sierra Leone, women continue to encounter major obstacles that inhibit their ability to fully participate in politics.