It could be recalled that President Bio in his address to Parliament committed himself to transforming the tourism sector into a core sector that can contribute to the economic development of Sierra Leone.
According to the Dr. Pratt she has been interacting with the hospitality industry a number of times since she took office, stating that they have been looking at issues affecting the industry itself.
“There were many issues, but as a new government it is our responsibility to ensure that we look at the very challenging problems in the industry.” Pratt said, adding that during the review as a ministry since independence, it shows that the ministry has not been doing well as expected.
Dr. Pratt disclosed that environment protection has been an issue, noting that the hospitality industry has huge potential when it comes to how they interact in their service provision and impact in some of the services they provide which affect the environment.
The ministry according to Dr. Pratt wants to create the enabling environment for the industry to thrive. She maintained that they are currently busy trying to engage investors to come to Sierra Leone and to ensure they invest in human, physical and structural development in moving Sierra Leone forward.
“The government is at the forefront trying to change the international image of Sierra Leone,” Dr. Pratt said, adding that they intend to use the tourism sector to rebrand Sierra Leone.
“The world is concerned about the environment and the impact of climate change.” Pratt said. She added that people who want to live in this part of the world and want to ignore the impact and terrible use of the environment means you are actually not providing the existence for future generations.
Giving an overview of the environmental impact assessment procedure on the Hospitality sector the Executive Chairman, EPA, Dr. Foday Moriba Jaward said that when he assumed office few things were down, noting that he and his team brought in their own idea of not doing business as usual and that they will work very hard for everybody to be happy.
