Chinese Government provides RMB 450 million grant — via ETCA — for Fishery Harbor Project

In August 2018, during an official visit to China, the Sierra Leonean President, Julius Maada Bio, signed an agreement with the Chinese Government regarding a feasibility study for a Fishery Harbor Project.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Chinese Government agreed to dispatch a team of 9 experts to Sierra Leone to conduct a feasibility study for a project that would involve the construction of a fishing harbor (port) in the capital city of Freetown.

Then, on February 1, 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone and the Chinese Government signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (经济技术合作协议 or ETCA), which officially committed RMB 200 million (approximately $29.8 million) of grant funding for the Fishery Harbor Project.

However, in July 2021 Sierra Leone’s Parliament ratified an RMB 450 million grant agreement with the Chinese Government for the Fishery Harbor Project.

The Chinese Government apparently increased the overall size of its grant commitment for the project by authorizing the use of RMB 250 million of additional grant funding for the Fishery Harbor Project that it had previously committed through an August 30, 2018 ETCA.

The purpose of the project is to construct an industrial fishing harbor (port) — for tuna vessels and ‘other bigger fishing’ vessels exporting to international markets — at Black Johnson beach near a protected area called Western Area Peninsula national park.

The project also involves a ‘waste-management component’ to ‘recycle marine and other wastes into useful products. Zhejiang Communications Investment Group Co., Ltd. is the contractor responsible for project implementation.

Part of the land earmarked for the project is a lagoon in the dry season that opens up into a river during the rainy season.

It acts as a fish breeding site, and its water flows into Whale Bay - renowned for whales, dolphins, turtles and many bird species – when it rains.

Conservationists, human rights and animal welfare groups and local landowners, claim that the project would ‘destroy pristine rainforest, plunder fish stocks, pollute the marine environment and five individual ecosystems that are fish breeding grounds and support endangered bird and wildlife species.’ Two legal campaign groups, the Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy for Justice (ILRAJ) and Namati Sierra Leone, have written to the Government of Sierra Leone, under the 2013 Right to Access Information Act, demanding to see the environmental and social impact assessment studies for the project, and a government report showing that the beach was, as claimed, the most suitable place for construction ‘in terms of bathymetry, social safeguards (minimum resettlement costs) and environmental issues.’ They have also sought a copy of the grant agreement between the Chinese Government and the Government of Sierra Leone.

Basita Michael, a lawyer for the ILRAJ, has said that ‘The press release was very vague. It left us wondering how did we arrive here and how come we are only hearing about this now.

We have a right to know more.’ James Tonner, who owns land at Black Johnson with his mother, Jane Aspden Gbandewa, has written an open letter to the President of Sierra Leone, calling for him to intervene and stop the construction of the fishing port, which Tonner said would be ‘disastrous for the country and the planet’.

In August 2021, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the following public remarks about the project: ‘The Sierra Leonean government and industry associations, as well as various sectors of society, have repeatedly clarified and expressed support for the project in Sierra Leone, which the parliament recently approved.

The remarks of people from all walks of life in Sierra Leone clearly show that the construction of a modern fishing [harbor] has been the long-cherished wish of the Sierra Leonean people since the 1970s. The construction of the fishing [harbor] will significantly improve Sierra Leone's fishing infrastructure.

On the issue of environmental assessment and land requisition, the government of Sierra Leone has pointed out that the siting of the project is the most appropriate arrangement based on considerations of multiple factors including the water depth and the environment.

The Sierra Leonean side has commissioned a professional institution to conduct an environmental assessment and earmarked funds for compensation for the local landowners.

According to the registration records of Sierra Leone's fishery authorities, there are now more than 100 industrial fishing vessels from 16 countries and regions operating in Sierra Leone.

The completion of the fishing [harbor] will benefit not only the local people, but also the relevant enterprises operating in Sierra Leone. It is a win-win project for all parties.

So the claims in this article about the fishmeal plant, destruction of surrounding rainforest, disregard for the local people, China hoovering up resources, are all untrue and untenable.’ As of January 2022, there was still no evidence that project implementation had commenced.