The vice chairman also pointed out that his visit was to find the reformatory way forward for the project.

Hou revealed to President Koroma that his company had received different iron ore samples for testing, but would let the government know the outcome of the test, adding that his company was able to address the backlogs left by AML and local employees had been compensated.

He said Shandong had taken actions to surmount the challenges and prevent future problems and claimed that the company had invested and paid taxes to the tune of $40 million but agreed that more funding would be injected in the operations.

President Koroma embraced the company’s proposal to transform the country’s economy and acknowledged the challenges faced during the transition period from AML to Shandong.

The president said the transition adversely affected government, while adding that the drop in the iron ore price had also compounded the very difficult situation and urged them to speed up their activities through the pumping in of capital investment. He pledged his government’s continued commitment to supporting the company.

“We will continue to support the project because we believe it’s a win-win situation for both the company and Sierra Leone,” he asserted.