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POaPA SALONE 4 BETTEH

President Bio Hosted at the China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Centre..

Changsha, Hunan Province, China, His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio on Thursday 6th September 2018, was hosted at the China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Centre located at Mapoling, Furong District, Changsha, Hunan Province.

Welcoming President Bio and delegation the “Father of Hybrid Rice” and principal scientist, Professor Yuan Longping, said that the centre and staff were very privilege to host the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. Professor Longping said that the centre was established in 1995 and it is the first research institute specialized in hybrid rice development both at home and abroad.

President Bio and his team were also told that since Professor Yuan Longping proposed the technical route for super hybrid rice breeding which is combining ideal plant type with inter-subspecific hetorosis in 1997, the centre has made significant progress in super hybrid rice research and the yield targets of 10.5, 12.0, 13.5 and 15.0 t/hm for Phase I, Phase II, Phase III and Phase IV of Chinese super rice breeding.

Also Professor Yuan Longping proposed the new plant type model for super hybrid rice breeding in 2012 and developed super hybrid rice variety “super 1000” which reached 16 t/hm in 2015, 17 t/hm in 2017 and now striding towards the target of 18 t/hm. Professor Yuan Longping said that currently, in order to thoroughly implement food security strategy of storing grains in land and technology, the centre actively explores new rice breeding technology which is green, organic and safe. Longping assured the President that it will be a pleasure to help Sierra Leone achieve food security as much as he can.

Responding, President Bio thanked the centre for the warm reception accorded him and his team. He said that because of series of challenges Sierra Leone has not been able to feed itself and importing at least US$200 million of rice every year. President Bio said that his visit to the centre was to learn about the great work they do on rice production and to see how Sierra Leone can benefit from that. “I want to be able to provide an opportunity to feed the nation,” President Bio said.

President Bio also appealed to the Centre that he would like to see students from Sierra Leone giving an opportunity to study at the centre. With Professor Yuan Longping about 90 years, President Bio said that if he had the chance he would like to take Longping to Sierra Leone to be able to see how we can improve on agriculture cultivation. Because of his age, Professor Longping said that he will send his team of experts to Sierra Leone.

Later, President Bio and team were taken to the Super Hybrid Rice Experimental Field of the Research Centre where the President and Team were briefed on the ongoing rice experiment.

Earlier, furtherance to his commitment on food security, His Excellency President Bio also held meeting with Hainan International Group in Shanghai where President Bio told them that his ambition is to reduce rice importation in the next five years and that his Government would provide all necessary support for that ambition to be achieved. During a follow up meeting between Hainan International Group and the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Joseph Ndanema, Hainan International agreed to plant 35,000 hectares of rice out of which the Group will start planting 5,000 hectares for the first phase.

Every year, China takes 10 million people out of poverty and throughout his visit President Bio kept asking the question: if china can take 10 million people out of poverty every year, why cant Sierra Leone take 7 million people out of poverty? During the election campaign, President Bio promised economic diversification and the agriculture sector is one area he intends to use for his economic diversification. Like with many other promises, President Bio is only delivering on his election promise to diversify the economy.

ANOTHER STATE HOUSE SCANDAL‼️

As the Bio government is painstakingly trying to hush their 60-man delegation to this year's UNGA poised to be led by the Chief Minister David Francis, the regime is hit yet again with another scandal of financial impropriety.

This time around, it involves the whopping sum of Leone just for the renovation of State House on the insistence of Bio that all the tradional red carpet must be changed to green.

Without following procurement rules, the contract was surreptitiously given to Fatima Bio.

This latest development however seemed to have angered the Chief Minister who was quoted to have indicated that Fatima Bio should take the back seat and instead use proxies in public procurement. "The government came under intensive scrutiny by both the public and our development partners following the inability of Fatima Bio to account on how much was expended during the President 's birthday cm inauguration ceremony", Francis was quoted to have fumed.

These revelations of financial mess as paradoxically coming at a time when the government is poised to set up a commission of inquiry on erstwhile government officials alleged to have ran the country as a 'criminal racketeering enterprise', according to the Chief Minister who headed the Government transition report team.

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For international Scene, George Weah gave scholarships to pupils to study abroad.

Amongst the students that sat the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), formerly West African Examination Council (WAEC), these students performed excellently.

As a result of their hard work and in recognition of their stellar performance, My Government will send them abroad for studies. It is my hope that this will serve as motivation for other students to study vigorously.

Breaking News: The Navy has just seized a Chinese boat illegally fishing in the country’s waters. It’s being brought to shore. The country loses millions of dollars a year to illegal activity in its territorial waters mostly by Chinese and Korean vessels.

From Sesay.