A high-power delegation of the Board of Trustees, Management and Staff of the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) over the weekend invited Awareness Times to embark with them on a three-day conducted tour of all the Trust’s investment project sites in Waterloo, Makeni, Bo, and Freetown respectively. The three-day tour which commenced on Thursday, 30th September and ended on Saturday, 2nd October 2010 was designed to assist the NASSIT Board Members in their assessment of the total value of the NASSIT affordable housing project in those investment sites for them to be able to determine prices to be put on these houses that in their estimation would be affordable by the targeted poor beneficiaries.
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Board Members Happily Posed for the Press in front of a Unit in Kenema |
The high-power delegation included; Mr. Jacob Kanu (Board Chairman), the Board’s Prosecution Lawyer, Mr. John Bosco, Mr. Felix Rose (Board Member), Mr. Arthur Yaskey (Board Member) and the Pensioners Representative, Mr. Franklyn Johnson, to name a few. They were also accompanied by some other important personalities and senior regional staff members of NASSIT in the country.
The delegation successfully assessed the affordable three and two bedroom houses, shopping mall and transport terminals where applicable in the regions. In all four investment sites the Board was adequately informed about the units and how the investments were made.
In this regard, every single Member of the Board expressed satisfaction with the investment and were filled with praises for the NASSIT management for what they described as “laudable investments”.
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Board Members Inspecting the Bo Units |
In Waterloo, where ten units of three and two bedrooms are under construction, the Board Chairman, Mr. Kanu urged the contractors to ensure speedy completion of the project, adding that it is expected that the President His Excellency, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma and some of his Ministers would be paying an assessment visit to all four sites at a yet to be disclosed date in October 2010.
Jacob Kanu assured the contractors that the Board would ensure that management supplies all that is needed for the speedy conclusion of the project so as to meet the President’s proposed visit.
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Board Members Inspecting the Transport Terminal and Shopping Mall Project Site in Makeni |
In Kenema and Makeni, where six of three and two bedroom units have already been completed and handed over to NASSIT, the Board members showered praises on the contractors for a job well done and appreciated the modern style in which the units were designed. They informed that now that these houses have been completed, they will soon be put on sale to interested applicants through the Home Finance Company Mortgage System at an affordable cost. They called on members of the public who want to purchase or mortgage these units to register their interests now to ensure that they do not miss them.
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Board Members Inspecting the Waterloo Units |
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Board Members Posed in One of the Makeni Units |
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Board Members Visiting Kenema's Transport Terminal and Shopping Mall Under Construction |
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Contractor Bambay Kamara Explaining the Bore Hole Water Supply System in Waterloo Units to Board Members |
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NASSIT's Regional Manager South Michael A.J Lahai Explaining the Proposed Bo Transport Terminal and Shopping Mall to Board Members |
The team’s visit was climaxed by several board meetings held in all the NASSIT regional offices to discuss the way forward.