SLMA Chief Boosts Blue Economy
Following the appointment of the new Executive Director, the objective on rebranding and modernizing the institution as a safe, secured and cleaner seas, promoting sustainable exploration of our country’s Blue Economy and enforcing the statutory instrument as well as encouraging women to participate in the Maritime sector (Maritime Women in Development) and renewing the Administration’s commitment to sending sea farers at sea in all boats flying the flag of Sierra Leone has been the primary objective of the New Executive Director.
The EDs first engagement review of the Administration shows that there was a huge task at hand, even though all the objectives have not been met. However, it is clear that the directions and visions are already clear and remain intact. One thing the Administration has achieved most is the recent reforms – The Administration is now a very accountable and transparent institution, a diverse and better place to work with freedom by all to speak, strong financial reporting system and a contemporary IT technology installed at the Administration.
In a bid therefore to revive the Maritime Industry across the country, the Administration under the leadership of Mr Paul S. Massaquoi has engaged in the following;
- Consultative meetings with the international, regional and local partners to develop strategies to improve the SLMA in line with all statutory obligations and to bring the Maritime amongst leading Administration amongst others.
- As the body charged with the responsibility to plan, monitor and evaluate training programs against any maritime conventions and to oversee the training, recruitment and welfare of Sierra Leonean Seafarers accordingly, the Administration has signed an agreement that will see over 800+ Sierra Leonean Seafarers On Board Sierra Leonean flag vessels. A scheme that will be creating more employment and career opportunities for Sierra Leoneans with the domestication of the Maritime STCW convention.
- To help the Administration discharge its responsibilities, the Administration has also been able to secure Five (5) Zodiac Search and rescue Boats to serve the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration Search and Rescue Operations with the provision of a modernized State- of- the Art Radio Communication system that will cover the entire country’s terminal stations including coverage on the SAR Boats. Several other items including Life jackets, Hard Hats, Safety Boots, Overalls etc have also been secured for distribution nationwide to all our staff and passengers traveling the Sierra Leone Waters.
- The Administration is also focused om the domestication of all our international convention in order to achieve the STCW white flag which will ultimately provide certain facilities and authority to the Sierra Leone Maritime such as increase in the country’s blue economy revenue by 35% as well as the authority to establish the First Sierra Leone Maritime Academy/University in the country.
- Recently, the Administration Awarded a contract for the establishment of the first Search and Rescue Centre and Regional Head Quarters in Bonthe as a vital tool to providing safety and safe guarding facilities across the country, increase revenue generation through our blue economy and Tourism.
Together with the Face lift of the Administration to bring about the corporate image of the Administration came an overhaul of the entire IT system in order to increase the efficiency of each department as the infrastructure shows audit trail for every process or function. The new system included an enterprise resource program (ERP) to enhance the inter-coordination, automation, transparency between departments and improves response time to processes compared to the paper based system that was in existence. At the heart of this system automation is human capital development wherein training and development for every department is conducted and staff members introduced to new and efficient ways of working in a professional environment. In the soul of all this transformative effort is data; wherein informed decisions will be made predictively by every department for the administration’s improvements