Reporter Zou Song.
Approaching the central business district of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, a nearly 75-meter-tall building with a construction area of more than 20,000 square meters comes into view. This is the Freetown Administrative Complex, which was built by China Civil Engineering Group. Since its completion in 2020, the Freetown Administrative Complex has become a local landmark, and its versatility meets the diverse needs of the City of Freetown administration.
Nestled on a peninsula on the Atlantic coast, Freetown's administrative complex resembles a giant ship on the Atlantic Ocean. The then Minister of Local Affairs and Rural Development of Sierra Leone, Ramina, said that this is the first landmark modern building in Sierra Leone, and it is a must-visit place in Sierra Leone and a central facility for municipal services.
Walking into the administrative complex in Freetown, the modern office environment is eye-catching. The functional areas such as offices, meeting rooms, and lounges of various municipal departments are clearly divided, and there are all kinds of dining and leisure places. In particular, the multi-purpose hall can accommodate more than 400 people, which can be used for parliamentary meetings at all levels. In addition, there are more than 100 parking spaces in the parking lot of the building, which basically meets the parking needs of staff and the public.
As a city landmark, the Freetown Administrative Complex has become a proud calling card for Sierra Leoneans. The Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aji-Sawyer, said: "The construction of the Freetown Administrative Complex, which was built by a Chinese company, has greatly improved the office environment of the Sierra Leone** department and the Freetown City Hall. A local person left a message on the city***: "This building shows the world a new image of Freetown's rapid urban transformation." ”
This is the fruit of the traditional friendship between Sierra Leone and China. Sierra Leone's Minister of Information and Civic Education Cherno ** said that over the decades, the National Stadium, the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Building, and the China-Sierra Leone Friendship Highway built by China have become Sierra Leone landmarks. In recent years, a number of new projects undertaken by Chinese enterprises have also been progressing in an orderly manner, including the China-aided Sierra Leone National Stadium overhaul project, the Freetown Ring Road project, and the West African United Insurance Company building project, covering Sierra Leone's urban construction, people's livelihood, culture and other fields. ** He said that the friendship between Cyprus and China is "indestructible" and that the cooperation between the two countries "has really changed the lives of our people and the face of the country, for which we are deeply grateful, and this is true friendship".
Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone Wang Qing said that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Sierra Leone has continued to enhance political mutual trust, steadily advance practical cooperation, and strengthen international cooperation, injecting new impetus into the traditional friendship between the two countries.
People** 2024-03-01 03 Edition).