The Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs (MTCA) and the National Tourist Board (NTB) in collaboration with Africell and National Sports Authority (NSA) has visited the Aberdeen mangrove swamp to assess needs on driving development forward.

The purpose of the assessment is to explore and seek any possibility of constructing an in-door basketball court.

The Ministry was represented by Cultural Officer Mohamed Abass Kamara, while Deputy General Manager and team from the Board were in attendance to facilitate access and help the team tour the portions of the swamp.

The NSA team was led by its Deputy Executive Director Dr. Abdurahman Swaray.

Kamanda Koroma and team from their Marketing and Publicity unit represented Africel while President of the Sierra Leone Basketball Federation, Alie Hijazi, stood in for his Federation.

The NSA team strongly recommended that it would be ideal and well-appreciated if the Tourism Ministry and NTB could offer their Authority a bigger site that can accommodate both the basketball court and some strategic traditional games/sports to enhance a one-stop-shop tourism opportunity.

Jeffrey Moijueh, Deputy General Manager, differentiated the community handicraft market from the buffer zones he described as Ramza sites. These sites are located along the Aberdeen creek enveloped by a densely packed mangrove suitable for bird-watching and other related tourist interests.