Sierra Leone has agreed to sell 250 acres of pristine beach and rainforest to China for $55 million. The deal will allow China to build an industrial fishing port there.
The move has sparked outrage from environmentalists, human rights and animal welfare groups and local landowners, according to a report by the U.S. financial television network CNBC. They say the project will “destroy pristine rainforest, plunder fish stocks and pollute the marine environment as well as five separate ecosystems that are breeding grounds for fish. These ecosystems are breeding grounds for fish and support endangered species of birds and wildlife.”
The deal was first reported by The Guardian, but details about it are still unclear, and CNBC reports that local public policy research group the Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy for Justice (ILRAJ) and the land and environmental charity Namati have written to the government requesting the Chinese government-funded “information on plans to establish a fishing port and waste management operation at Black Johnson on the western peninsula.
The groups requested copies of the legally mandated environmental and social impact assessments and the grant agreement between China and the government of Sierra Leone.
The waters of Black Johnson are rich in fish, and local fishermen provide a large portion of the domestic market. Meanwhile, the Western Peninsula National Park is home to many endangered species.
In a press release issued Monday, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Emma Kowa-Jalloh said, “The proposed facility is a fishing port and not a fish workshop as portrayed by social media writers.”
The goal of the fishing port is to centralize all fishing activities. The Sierra Leone government has been aspiring to build a fish port since the early 1970s, but the need for significant funding prevented it from happening.
“With the new shift in government policy towards the development of the fisheries sector, the Chinese government has allocated $55 million to establish the platform.”
The release also claims that Black Johnson is “the most suitable place to build the facility” in terms of bathymetry, social security (minimum settlement costs) and environmental issues.
Kova Jallow said the Ministry of Finance had set aside a compensation package of 13.76 billion leones (about $1.34 million) for the landowners and insisted that the land was being sold to “ensure a regular supply of fish to the local market.
Greenpeace Africa condemned the move in a Tuesday tweet, arguing that “fishing communities in West Africa are already experiencing the effects of environmental degradation and climate crisis.”
The group added: “Allowing more extractive activities in the region will only make the situation worse.”
China’s growing overseas presence in infrastructure and economic development projects in Africa and elsewhere has been well documented in recent years, but such initiatives are typically financed through loan agreements.
Professor Katharine Adeney of the Institute of Asian Studies at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom was quoted in a report by U.S. financial television network CNBC as saying that there are some obvious parallels between the deals struck in Sierra Leone and parts of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
“Most CPEC projects in Pakistan are financed through loans. But the Gwadar port, the development of Gwadar International Airport and many of the “hearts and minds” projects in the region are being paid for with Chinese grants. “
This reflects the importance of the success of such projects to China’s strategic interests, Professor Adeney said. Beyond that, she said, there is only one grant-funded project, the development of a fiber-optic cable from China to Pakistan, which is critical to the BeiDou satellite positioning system.
Local militants in Sierra Leone have recently denounced the government’s lack of transparency as they seek clarity on the nature of the project, and a CNBC report quoted Robert Besseling, chief executive of political risk consultancy Pangea-Risk, as saying the opaqueness of the deal could ultimately “derail it “or at least cause further resistance.
The lack of transparency in the Sierra Leone government’s land ownership and Chinese cash grant agreements has raised concerns about potential corruption and could open it up to parliamentary investigation, he said. In addition, he noted that any forced displacement of residents around the project site could be allegedly unconstitutional under current land rights regulations.
However, scarce financing opportunities under the pandemic influence could push Sierra Leone back into the Chinese sphere of influence.”
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