Chinese Companies - WAOMC and CRSG strengthen ties with communities in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leonean School Children, WAOMC and CRSG Officials, and Community Leaders at the donation ceremony in CRSG Compound at Hastings, Freetown

West African Operations and Management Company (WAOMC), together with Sierra Leone Region of China Railway Seventh Group’s overseas company (CRSG), continue to demonstrate their commitment to promoting  economic development of Sierra Leone and the local people’s livelihood, hoping to help them live a better life. The two companies have generously donated foods and non-food items (School bags for community children, sporting items for community and bags of food items) to surrounding communities where they operate in the West African country.

Community leaders thanked the two companies for not only the donation but also empowering their sons and daughters with employment and training opportunities. They commended the good roads constructed by the Chinese and also the first ever toll road that is serving their communities well. They appreciated the fact that the Chinese are willing to develop the country and called for a stronger collaboration in making their job easy.

Member of Parliament, Constituency 111, Hon. John Sattie Kargbo thanked the Chinese for their donation to his people and for capacitating Sierra Leoneans, which shows that they are accountable and responsive to their obligations.

Toll Director of WAOMC, Yandong Kan, said the donation is one of the important measures of WAOMC and CRSG to carry out corporate social responsibilities and public services.

Sierra Leoneans and Chinese demonstrating unity

CRSG has always focussed on the infrastructure construction of Sierra Leone and completed many high-quality road engineering projects since the entry to Sierra Leone market in 2008, which is welcomed and identified by Sierra Leone government and people. The company responds to the development activities of "go global" and the Belt and Road Initiatives with a pioneering spirit and boldly adapts to a new public-private partnership model so that fresh vitality is poured into the long-term development of Sierra Leone infrastructure construction. Now the company is indispensable for infrastructure construction area of Sierra Leone.

The company has always thought highly of social services: in the past ten year’s donations worth US$300, 000 were given to surrounding communities, schools, and orphans. Donated for Ebola and mudslide disaster victims, and took the obligations of a responsible corporation and rescued victims immediately.

WAOMC, a company for operations and management of Wellington-Masiaka Highway, is highly valued by Chinese Embassy and Economic and Commercial Counsellor’s Office in Sierra Leone, many departments of Sierra Leone government, and local people. In order to better the management of the first tolling highway throughout the history of Sierra Leone, mature and advanced tolling operation systems and management models are introduced to the company and accommodated to the conditions of Sierra Leone. Since the start of the normal running on August 18, 2017, the company has steadily, continuously and regularly operated for over nine months. The company’s mission is to provide good quality service, and its aim is to promote local staff’s management level and professional skills. Significantly, the company has created employment opportunities for new types, trained a group of excellent Sierra Leonean managers, and promoted the surrounding economic development.

“In this month, 28 Sierra Leonean staffs have been sent to take training courses of Express Way Construction, Operations, and Management in China,” says Yandong Kan.

He furthered that as a new-style foreign corporation of the service industry, they know deeply the close relationship between good corporation revenue and social services, and so they cherish very much the friendly relationship with the neighboring establishments and residents.

“In line with this principle of “help and benefit each other, give feedback to the society”, we hold this donation ceremony in order to try our best to help the residents around, especially for children. Apart from such material donation, footballs, and team uniforms, we hope that our staff, as well as neighborhood residents, could participate in collective activities to enrich their lives. Our company has a family culture, so we also hope the company, workers, and the surrounding residents could care for, understand, support, and develop each other,” he assured and added that the donation is like a seed which will grow into a big tree to give shade to some land.

Present at the ceremony are: Chief Engineer of CRSG, Mr. Wang; Local Community Leaders; Community people and some local and international staff of the two companies. The event was chaired by Mohamed Pope Kamara.