KFAED Headquarters, Kuwait City – Acting Director-General of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Mr. Rashaid A. Al-Bader, has reaffirmed the Fund’s commitment to supporting the proposed construction of a Cancer Centre (Diagnostic, Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine/Imaging) to improve specialised healthcare delivery in Sierra Leone.
He made this disclosure during a meeting held with Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the State of Kuwait, Her Excellency Haja Ishata Thomas, at the Fund’s headquarters in Kuwait City.
According to Mr. Al-Bader, the mutually beneficial relationship between Sierra Leone and the Kuwait Fund could be traced as far back as the 1990s, when the Fund supported the construction of the Waterloo-Tokeh Road project, adding that the Fund has continued to support the country’s development initiatives in various sectors ever since.
“Kuwait Fund is thrilled to partner with the Government of Sierra Leone to construct a Cancer Centre, as one of its development priorities for the country’s health sector. A team from the Fund will embark on the appraisal Mission to Freetown when the government has conveyed the approval,” he stated.
Her Excellency Haja Ishata Thomas congratulated Mr. Al-Bader on his appointment as Acting Director-General of the Fund, commending their effort to engage Sierra Leone’s Minister of Finance, Hon. Sheku Fantamdi Bangura, in respect of the construction of the long-awaited Cancer Centre in Freetown, on the sidelines of the Islamic Development Bank’s Meetings to strengthen regional housing and infrastructure financing in Baku, Azerbaijan in June this year.
“The construction of a Cancer Centre will go a long way in providing essential healthcare support and reducing the death rate not only for Sierra Leoneans, but also members within the ECOWAS region, drastically eliminating financial and emotional difficulties of patients travelling overseas for daily care. While we await the approval for the Appraisal Mission, the Mission kindly urges Kuwait Fund to continue its critical development assistance in other sectors,” Ambassador Thomas concluded.
Kuwait Fund has supported several development projects in Sierra Leone. These initiatives included the Freetown Wash and Aquatic Environment Revamping Project, aiming at providing sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation to the residents of Freetown and the Western Area; the three tertiary hospitals in Freetown, the construction of Kaningo, Juba Water RAW Storage Reservoir; the Lumley-Tokeh Road, Hillside Bypass Road in Sierra Leone, and the Kenema-Pendembu Road, among others.
Cyril Barnes,
*Information Attaché,*
*Sierra Leone Embassy, State of Kuwait*
*Email: information.attache@kw.slembassy.gov.sl*
