By Mohamed Fofanah.
Bollore Transport and Logistics has awarded scholarships to thirty deserving students from various higher institutions of learning in Sierra Leone, with the Moa, and Seaside Wharf communities where the Freetown Terminal operates, getting fifteen beneficiaries each.
The students are in various years of studies in various universities and colleges in Sierra Leone including Fourah Bay College (FBC), Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM), UNIMTECH, Freetown Teachers College (FTC), College of International Business Management, and Technology (CIBMAT).
The Head of the Scholarship Committee, Gassimu S. Fofanah said the company has awarded 77 scholarships, expending over SLL 240 million including 20 in 2019, and 27 in 2020 to students who went through rigorous assessments and interviews following their applications for the scholarship to be awarded to them. This year’s scholarship accounts for over SLL 102 million, according to the Head of the Committee.
He admonished the beneficiaries to take advantage of the company’s generosity and be hardworking, noting that Bollore Transport and Logistics may want to employ people who are very close to its operational areas.
During a ceremony held at Queen Elizabeth II in Freetown on Wednesday, a two-time beneficiary of Bollore’s scholarship in the last two years, M’balu Mohamed Bangura, an Applied Accounting final year student at IPAM said the scholarship has helped her further her studies on to this stage, noting that the company’s generosity has meant a lot to her during the course of her studies.
Another two-time beneficiary, Yusuf Abdul Kamara, a Public Health second-year student at CIDMAT said after receiving an acceptance letter to start his study at the college, he has been able to continue his study only when he was awarded the Bollore scholarship, amidst financial constraints hampering his chance of completion. He said, “If it were not for this opportunity I would not have been in college at this time.”
Osman Sahid Conteh, who benefitted from the gesture in 2017/2018, said he has been employed by the company on a contract basis following the completion of his internship which started in February this year. The Civil Engineering graduate from FBC beseeched the new beneficiaries to be hardworking and honest during and after the course of their studies.
