The tripartite agreement past in 2017 by the parliament of Sierra Leone, was mandated to manage the day to day operation of the tracking note system of cargoes coming into and leaving the Freetown Port.
The Cargo Tracking Notes technology was introduced following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US as a means of improving on security around marine shipments and to create a system of verifying the contents of every cargo, and then tracking them between ports.
Every cargo travelling by sea must be issued with a CTN by an approved agent prior to departure.
The agreement was reached under the former administration of President Ernest Bai Koroma, through what was described as a competitive bidding process.
The decision to terminate the agreement was announced via an executive order issued by new President Julius Maada Bio late on Thursday.
In the statement, the presidency said the move followed an investigation mounted as part of ongoing reforms by the government aimed at reducing the cost of doing business.
The investigation, according to the statement, uncovered “substantial breaches” of the terms and conditions of the contract, including
non-payment of government revenue amounting to over US$11million, unauthorized diversion of funds meant for the government to foreign
accounts, and failure to comply with relevant portions of the agreement relating to actions that would allow the government to monitor the progress of the contract implementation.
The termination of the agreement takes effect from February 15.
According to the presidential order, the Sierra Leone Port Authority (SLPA), which had awarded the contract as the landlord at the Sierra Leone Ports, will resume temporary operation of the cargo tracking note with immediate effect, until 90 days, within which period the government is expected to restructure the operation and management of the system.
The government says it has also constituted an oversight committee comprising the ministries of Finance, Transport and Aviation, as well as the National Commission for Privatization and the SLPA to carry out an open international bidding process to attract a credible private operator.