Madam Khadija Sesay called for a collaborative effort of all and sundry to come together to promote the tourism and cultural sector as she said every other sector like the mining sector would come and go but the tourism and cultural sector would be of help to every citizen and would last forever in the country. She said if more investment are being put into the tourist and cultural sector, it would be of help to provide jobs for the citizens and more revenue generation for the government.
The Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs said in a bid to overcome these challenges, the ministry has been advocating through government, which she said has created some turn around in the ministry. She disclosed that under the leadership and vision of President Koroma, the ministry has secured five billion Leones for its development.
Madam Khadija Sesay said as part of government commitment to promote the tourist sector in the country, government has established an international committee to address some of the issues, particularly some of the Acts that have been infringed into the tourism development Act of 1990. She said the ministry is putting document together for a formation of an Art and Culture that will bring all artists in all facet of life to promote and sustained the heritage and culture of the country.
Meanwhile a delegation from Hull City in the United Kingdom (UK) Cultural Affairs are currently in the country to make an exhibition of the culture of Hull City and to see how they could render help in the tourist sector after the devastating effect of the Ebola scourge in the sector. “we are here to tell a story about Hull City as there is no way one could talk about Hull City without talking about its relationship with Freetown”, said Mr. Matine Greene, the Director of Cultural Affairs in Hull City. He said the relationship with Freetown and Hull City started for many years since colonial period.
The director of cultural affairs in Hull City, Mr. Matine Greene said this week is a week of education and discovery to find out what is happening here in the cultural landscape and how they could positively blend it into their cultural plans for 2017.
