AYV News, May 29, 2025
The Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) has commenced clearing and reclaiming the right-of-way nationwide. On May 27 2025, the Authority cleared the right-of-way around IMATT and American Embassy.
Director General of SLRA, Ing. Alfred Jalil Momodu, said theaction is to facilitate road expansion, utility service installations (like water pipes, electricity, and fiber cables), and further address encroachments on the right-of-way.
Ing. Momodu defines the right-of-way as a demarcated portion of land extending from the road’s centre line, varying in width depending on the road type (e.g., 30 meters for major highways, 20 meters for urban roads).
He said the action aims to remove encroachments that impede road expansion and the installation of utility services, according to the Sierra Leone Roads Authority.
The Right-of-Way is a demarcated portion of land that spans 30 metres from the centre line to either side of the road for major highways, 20 metres for urdan township roads, 6 10 metres for rural roads. This portion of land is normally reserved for future expansion of the road and the installation of utility services including water pipes electricity and fibre cables.
The public should kindly note that Part VI (1) of the SLRA Act confers all land in the right-of-way to the Authority. The section states as follow:
All rights-of-way for road purposes existing immediate before the commencement of this Act shall be vested in the Authority. The public would recall that in recent years, most road projects have either been put on hold or delayed due to the resistance of persons who had encroached and constructed permanent structures on the right-of-way. The removal relocation of those encroachers have cost government huge amounts of money as compensation to those encroachers, mostly on humanitarian grounds. In order to prevent similar problems in future, the SLRA has robustly embarked on the clearing and reclaiming of the right-of-way.
