The Sierra Leone’s Chief Minister, Dr. Moinina David Sengeh, has on Tuesday, July 2023, 2024 paid an on-the-spot visit at the ongoing Sewa Grounds Market project so as to ascertain the level of preparedness ahead of the official commissioning in August 2024.

The Sewa Grounds Market project is a National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) investment which aims to have a modern trading space that can accommodate over 6,000 traders and customers on a daily basis.

Once completed, the market is expected to significantly reduce street trading in the country’s capital, Freetown.

NASSIT’s Director General, Mohamed Fuaad Daboh, informed the Chief Minister that the facility was over 95 percent complete, adding that it would be ready for commissioning in August this year and subsequently handover to the end users.

“This facility has crèche for nursing mothers, control room for CCTV cameras, offices for commercial banks, and an office for the Freetown City Council (FCC) to collect market dues. There is also a water tank than can take 100,000 liters of water. We provided 151 toilets within the facility in order to boost sanitation within the market space,” he told the Chief Minister.

He said there was a parking facility that would accommodate 50 vehicles, noting that plans were underway to construct an ultra-modern vehicle parking center for traders, customers, and nearby office workers.

The NASSIT Director General noted that there were nine hydrants within the facility, disclosing that fire hoses have already been installed while awaiting to install fire extinguishers soon.

Giving his impression, the Chief Minister expressed his delight over the manner at which the Sewa Grounds market project has been handled by NASSIT.

“I’m happy to know that NASSIT has provided a good leadership in ensuring that there is a good design practices for the market, thereby ignoring the substandard work that was done earlier at the initial stages of the project,” he said.

He said he took a decision to pay a visit to the project site so as to get a first-hand information about the level of preparedness, adding that he was also there to evaluate what has been done so far by NASSIT.