Speaker of Parliament, Dr. Abass C. Bundu, has mandated the Committees of Transport and Aviation, Internal Affairs and Finance, to speedily investigate, why Securiport, the company that provides service at the Lung! International Airport, is extorting $25 from passengers at the Lungi International Airport.

It could be recalled that the Government of Sierra Leone, through a public notice informed the public that inbound and outbound passengers will start to pay 25USD for security service at the Lunge International Airport.

The said decision. received public criticism, especially from people who frequently travel to and from Sierra Leone.

According to the House Speaker, the committee should be able to establish whether the extortion was legal and find out whether the company was working against Section 110 of the 1991 Constitution.

“Let the records speak for themselves. Let us establish whether or not this Parliament passed such laws and report to us immediately, “he ordered.

He noted that he was reliably informed that the previous government gave such a mandate to the company through parliament but would want to ascertain whether that was true. But Hon. Chernoh R.M Bah of the main opposition All Peoples Congress interjected that nothing of such was agreed by the previous government as Members of Parliament then kicked against it.

such extortion. He said the $25 is a tax and that the committees on Finance and Transport should be able to explain to the House more about it.

He said they should also explain as o why payments were made over the Counter and sometimes in the bank or via Orange Money. He said such extortion was causing more hardship for the people.