FREETOWN, June 9 (Xinhua) -- The Economic Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone Shen Xiaokai has assured the people of Sierra Leone about China's commitment in the Mamamah airport project.
He said in a press interview at the Chinese Embassy in Freetown recently that the project is among several development projects in Ghana which will benefit from the 60 billion USD funding support for Africa announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping during the last FOCAC summit held in South Africa.
He said with the 200 million dollars to implement the first phase of the Mamamah project, the new airport, when completed, "would be fully functional in line with international standards."
Following the first phase it will be left with Sierra Leone to apply for further funding support from China for the second phase of the project so as to make the airport fully functional.
He advised the government of Sierra Leone to grasp the funding opportunity for the new airport to kick off as soon as possible.
After the airport project, the government of China would embark on the Rokel River water supply project, another flagship project of the Sierra Leonean government.
Shen said the project would be embarked upon as soon as the Mamamah airport project ends and hoped the project will "definitely and significantly help to solve the water crisis in the capital city".
He went further to state that the Chinese government is also embarking on two other projects , the West African Tropical Disease Research and Prevention Center which he described as "the most significant project for the post-Ebola recovery plan; and the 3.2-km Freetown link from the Limkokwing University to Regent, which will facilitate easy movement of people between the capital and Regent village.
