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.

We Are Like Aliens In Our Villages

By Alpha B. Kamara
The campaign for women to participate in Governance is reaching an unprecedented rate as women and civil society are demanding for proactive measures to ensure women are protected and made useful in all sectors in decision making.
“Women have been lagging behind for so long. Now is the time to change their position to one that will benefit the country,” said Fatmata Koroma, a cookery seller in Wellington..
She said not withstanding the stigma of being women in Sierra Leone most of them are the heads of their families and continue to upkeep their homes despite there are husbands around. She said they are still being viewed as inferiors to men and not useful in community discussions.
“Imagine, in my village we are like aliens when the male society is playing. We are forced to stay indoors until all ceremonies are done with,” she said, but added that when the women’s play is on course the men will often join in, to show that they have power over women.
“They are talking about women’s right-women’s right, all the time. I heard it on the radio and school children coming to buy rice to me, but do they ever go down to the provinces? I wonder if many of the people talking about these rights have visited the provinces when the men’s society is on play. If they have indeed gone their, they will know what I mean,” she said.
Koroma said there are many women in the provinces that have no access to information to their rights and that what they know is they must subdue themselves to the elders and husbands,” she lamented.

Share love

By Alpha Bedoh Kamara

The greatest foe to mankind
thrives in our souls,
With fatal burdens
weighing heavier on us

The colours of others we see
their language we noticed
their prayers we monitor
their clothing and food we despise

Yet we continue to hibernate
within our bizarre opinions,
with bitter perceptions
of others roles in society

Though knowing we
as a people of the world
have an obligation to respect
the taste of others – and love

She dies

By Alpha Bedoh Kamara


The drums wailed in the night
Unable to resist the beating sticks
And the crowd clapped and danced
Hypnotized by the hot rhythms
Of the weeping drums

The celebration consumed the night
As the drums rumbled in the dark
Hypnotizing the shadows that faded out
To the shuffle and scurry
Of dancing merry souls

She was so beautiful
Others say, more gracious than a fairy
When taken into the dark
Accompanied by the rumble
Of weeping drums

The beat was the same
As it has always been
And they danced to its wailing
As she was taken to learn
To love, and be loved

For it was her day
Her passage to maidenhood
Young girls, maiden and women
Arrayed in the rumbling dark
Danced to the weeping drums

But the drums suddenly stopped
The rumble disappeared with the shadows
The elders amongst themselves worried
Of what cause the drums to stop
From talking to the ancestors

From afar, came a crier’s roar
Unthinking of in such a day
When palm wine pots flooded the village
And the elderly swam in merry
That the crier broke the calabash

The young men ran into their rooms
The elderly snailed into theirs
Leaving behind their wives to tend the news
For in the rumbling dark
The life of her was gone.

The murder of Marie Thula 1

By Alpha B. Kamara

The village square at Malal Village is in crisis. Groups of young men, women and the elderly have converged at the village square, bemused of the horrible incident that has happened in their community, squabbled among themselves as to the nature of the incident, who committed the abominable deed and for what purpose.
The women conversed in whispers, afraid to face the wrath of angry and frustrated men, while the elders and young men walked a distance away from the women and children, to find solutions to the tragedy that has befallen them.
“We must find ways to know who committed this abominable deed,” Sorie Thula, the brother of the deceased demanded.
“The body of my sister will not rot without avenge. I call upon you elders and brothers to fight her fight; avenge her death!”
Marie Thula was 15 years old; daughter of Pa Kaprr Thula and Yeabu Tholie, both deceased. She was adopted by her uncle, the younger brother of her mother, Musa Tholie, and raised among his three children, Adama, yeanoh and Kai.
She was seen by a trader who was passing by, as the dismembered body lie on the road path leading to the village in the evening hours.
“The body of my sister will not rot without avenge,” Sorie continued, looking into the eyes of the others.
“This is a matter we should investigate to know who killed her,” one of the elders cautioned, “We know how you feel, but we must be cautions.”
Three days after the burial of the deceased, the elders met at the court barray and raised the issue with the section chief, Pa Lemamy Kumah, for a sorcerer to be summoned to find the killers or killer of Marie Thula.
It was agreed that Sese Gbema, the great sorcerer of Mayimbi, a village few miles from Malal, be summoned. The section chief then ordered his messenger that he (Sese Gbema ) be informed that Malal is in tears and needed his help, that the elders of Malal have agreed to seek his service to save them from a curse.
It was on Sunday, in the afternoon, when most of the boys were playing at the village square, the women and girls tending to daily house work, and the elders and men discussing at the court barray, when the strangely dressed man in red and black clothing, alligator-leathered bag strapped on his shoulders, with beads of cowries and small bells ringing from continuous dangling, dashed from the road path the body of the girl was murdered and ran straight into the village square.
The panic stricken boys ran into their houses, others stood agape, hypnotized by the strange looking man, who was accompanied by two other men dressed in similar attire.
The whole village erupted into disarray, as the women and girls also left their chores and ran indoors. The strange men stood for few minutes at the center of the village, sniffing and gnawing like angry dogs, and suddenly dashed toward the court barray, where the section chief and elders awaits them.

Welcome!!

Hi,
I am happy to be a member of the blog-lin family. I hope bloggers will find this page resourceful and benificial.
I welcome you all.
Alpha Bedoh Kamara
Thanks.