Summit Communications: In late June, Sierra Leone hosted the conference on Disarmament, Demobilisation, Reintegration and Stability in Africa. U N peacekeepers will be leaving Sierra Leone by the beginning of next year. All this is a clear indication of the international community's confidence in the peace and stability in your country. Mr. Silla, could you please share your thoughts with the readers on the durability of the peace here in your country.

Mr. Sadiq Silla: Thank you, I want to make this point clear, from the angle of Koidu Holdings. Koidu Holdings have been in Sierra Leone since 1995, we saw the bitter part of the war. Immediately after President Kabbah was re-elected in 2002, with the way the peace negotiations were heading towards disarmament planning, then we realized that peace was going to be established, that it was here to stay. Koidu Holdings were then the first investors to come back to the country. Even before the elections, we started establishing our presence on the ground, we went to Kono whilst the rebels were still there, at that time disarmament had started in the country, we stayed with them until they were disarmed, we started our operations and we never had any hiccups. We in Koidu Holdings believe that peace is here to stay. That is why we have increased our investment from 18 to 26 million dollars, and we will double that in our investment in the Tongo Fields. Our shareholders are fully committed to us as a team, and providing us with the support to search for and enter into more agreements and apply for more concessions.

Summit Communications: And are you confident that Sierra Leone is ready to assume responsibility for its own security once the troops pull out, and ensure the integrity of its borders? And if so what do you think the implications will be for diamond smuggling in Sierra Leone.

Mr. Sadiq Silla: I travel a lot, particularly towards the Sierra Leone-Guinea side of the border, because we get our explosives from Ghana through Guinea. Let me be very frank here, the people who were perpetrating the war; the rebels, they are now the people that have been put back in the army that have been reformed and rehabilitated, and now say that they don't want the war again. The disarmament package made provisions for them to be retrained in various professions. Since then I have been in Sierra Leone. Before this time, when there were little problems between nationals people would leave them to fight, but now if two people try to quarrel you see people try to stop them automatically, you see that they don't want anything that would look like a rebellious act. Down to the village, they understand the problems that would lead to the war, so if anybody perpetrates anything that they know might cause problems, they talk to him peacefully. Even the traditional rulers know how to treat the guys, how to talk to them so that they would stay happy and carry on their normal life. Everything is in place and there is real stability in Sierra Leone now. When the UN troops pull out, the situation will remain peaceful.

Summit Communications: Talking about Koidu Holdings, the production build up programme for K1 pipe at Koidu is going very successfully. You recently announced that record production has been achieved for July this year. Mr Silla, please share with the readers of The New York Times how your mining operations are progressing?

Mr. Sadiq Silla: We started production in March 2003, and we are moving to a point in January next year, where we will break even and start making profits making the shareholders happy, the government happy, and the people of Sierra Leone happy. To be honest with you the chief executive officer knows Sierra Leone very well, he has been here since 1995, he knows the people and the culture, and he did his planning, he is fantastic in planning, because you can now see the success of it. But the method we decided on at that time was open cast method then we realized that that method had a lot of community related issues, for instance, if you expand the circumference of the pit you get more into the community and that would create problems, so therefore, we decided to change to a vertical mining method. Although, the vertical pit method is expensive and has delayed the time that we started making profit we believe that we have adapted the method that will help us to solve our community problems, also get production on track and have a continuous production flow without ups and downs through different times of the year.

Summit Communications: Mr. Silla, we would be very interested to communicate to the readers of The New York Times as well what makes the diamond deposits on your concession so special?

Mr. Sadiq Silla: Geologically, the people say that the source of diamonds is the Kimberlite. In Sierra Leone we have identified only three pipes, pipe 1, 2, and 3. Pipe 1 and 2 belong to Koidu Holdings, pipe 3 belongs to another company. SLST tried pipe 1 and 2 and they had an unfortunate situation, so people were reluctant to venture into Kimberlite. In 2002, when everybody was running away from Sierra Leone, the CEO decided it was a challenge worth taking on. I travelled with him from here to Kono through slipping through the bush around the site, trying to do all the planning, so that when people started realizing that peace is here to stay, we were 40% ahead of everybody in terms of planning and preparation. With our ability and understanding of the situation and the environment, we started talking first to the community to make them understand what the Kimberlite was about, and convince them to forget about their fears from the past because mining methods have changed. We had the knowledge, the charisma and the ability to carry out the plans, and most importantly the availability of funds. When you blend all those factors together you have a winning combination. We were rewarded for our foresight and the faith we had in the government and the peace. We were not afraid of doing anything; people doubted whether it was safe to bring the equipment to the country so while everybody was sitting and thinking of what to do, we saw which way the wind was blowing and we had a zeal, and faith in everything.

Summit Communications: Mr. Silla, geologically speaking in terms of the diamonds themselves, we have heard that there is average diamond carat higher than almost anywhere in any other diamond producing country in the world. Is there anything that distinguishes the resources and the diamonds that come out from this country from the rest of the world?

Mr. Sadiq Silla: I think that it's a matter that happens naturally. People who market the diamonds and who have the opportunity to buy from other countries, say that these kinds of assertions are made in international conferences and people believe in it. When you see the diamonds here, compared, for instance, to another from Guinea, you can tell the difference in the quality and just the shine of the diamonds from Sierra Leone. Given the choice between a 20carat diamond from Guinea or a 5carat diamond from Sierra Leone, you would go for the diamond from Sierra Leone.

Summit Communications: And have there been any concerted efforts to brand the Sierra Leonean diamond? For instance, coffee-producing countries have branded their coffees. For instance, people now associate Kenyan coffee with luxurious taste and they pay a premium for that. Have there been any efforts to brand the Sierra Leone diamond?

Mr. Sadiq Silla: I believe that last year we were contacted by some people, I cannot remember where they were from, I believe that was their concept, they would be interested when we get the Kimberlite diamonds, because of the unfortunate war, no body was thinking on that way, not even the GGDO.

Summit Communications: Mr. Silla something that you mentioned earlier is that you were recently awarded the exploration licence in Tongo Field ahead of 13 other international companies. Please tell us more about this exciting development.

Mr. Sadiq Silla: That is where our strength lies. We had a concession in 1995, and whilst everybody was running away we stayed very focused on our concession in Kono. We observed every development as nationals, President Kabbah came back from Guinea, and we came back to Freetown. We never closed the office as we had our faith in a government that we saw was doing its best to get the Sierra Leone on the proper footing for development. We saw a good government, people with good heart who wanted to stop the war and help the country.

At that time, Mr. Joubert was the head of security for the company. We decided to take the challenge, to stand by the government and believe in their aspirations and ambitions. By then, I was Project Officer, the guy on the ground, we stayed in Kono and we never collaborated with the junta. At a point their forces arrived in Kono and they overpowered us. We were forced to pull out and many people were trying to escape to Guinea. We managed to find our way back to Freetown and we stayed and observed the situation. We listened to the radio broadcasts, read the publications and listened to the debates, and when we saw peace coming, I gave the signal to Jan Joubert, and because of the trust he had in me and the trust the shareholders had in Mr. Joubert, we had already started on-site planning before the elections 2002.

In the case of Tongo it was a question of application. In our application, we wrote down our physical track record, we said that we understand the country the culture and people and outlined the strengths of our organization. Most importantly, the first thing we did was to go to the people of Tongo and say to them: "We are Koidu Holdings, we are the company that operate in Kono, and in Kono this is what we have done. We started preparing our plans of mobilisation from the first of March 2003 and by January 2004 we had started production, so we are competent and we know what to do. If you give us the same opportunity by giving us the concession, then we can do the same thing." As the only operational diamond mine in Sierra Leone, we gave them what nobody else can; practical evidence of operational ability. From the 1st of March 2003 to January 2004 we operated 24 hours a day in three shifts. I start work at 7:30am until there is nothing to do on that day, this is our culture, until there is no work or we are too tired to work any more. We do not believe in 8 hours shift for our senior staff. Senior people leave only when everything is done. And this is what we showed these people, we told them we are going to apply for the government but it is you people who own the land and you are very important in this whole process. Although the government grants the legal concession of the land, the land belongs to the people who live there. We knew the culture and these local details, which is another strength of ours. That is down to the design of the operation. For every expatriate there is a counterpart Sierra Leonean. The people in Tongo knew, that company has ever taken the steps to consult them, so they said to us to go ahead, we are willing to support you. Then we came back to the government, to the Vice President - a very sharp and committed person. We told him the first thing we would do, if we operate in Koidu and want to operate in Tongo, is to link the road between Koidu and Tongo. We are not only interested in exploiting the minerals, but also in contributing to national development. We are talking about 40 km of road, three major bridges, and we are going to redo that. It is going to be wider and stronger for the ADTs which weigh more than 20tons. None of the other companies made such a commitment to national development.

Summit Communications: We were reading during our research, in 2004 we saw there were some disagreement between you, some NGOs and the local community in Koidu, with accusations of a disregard for environmental issues and a lack of transparency in public disclosure. At that time, H. E President Kabbah came down to your premises, praised what Koidu had done there and encouraged people to work with you. Mr. Silla, we are keen to communicate your views and perspectives on these events to the readers of The New York Times?

Mr. Sadiq Silla: When you have a Kimberlite operation, you have to blast with explosive, and yes there is a sound effect which is the biggest disadvantage. If we had continued with the open cast method then we would have had to relocate many people and that is why we changed to vertical pit method, in October 2004.

I will explain the story of when President Kabbah came to Kono. In 2002, we identified the problem of a number of houses near the mine sites. We were advised that we should move those houses 250 Meters from the centre of pits 1 and 2, so we went with town planning officer and identified the houses that were within 250 meters of the pit. We had the information and when we started the operation our intention was to solve the resettlement before starting production. However, the traditional decision-making system is very slow. We went to the Chief to identify our resettlement settlement sit and the Chief allowed us to go around the chiefdom to look for the options accompanied by a very senior person from the Chiefdom. Together we decided on the relocation site. Eventually, it became apparent that the land was of the Chiefs ownership, so we could not take that site. It took us over 6 months to agree on another site. After that came the design of the houses, and it took a lot of time to go through that whilst at the same time our operations were running at full speed. Of course, the local community did not want us start operating before finishing the resettlement and the NGOs got involved at that point. The first thing they started with was to give a bad name to our company. They wrote a letter directly to the World Bank, because it was public information that the World Bank were covering the insurance on our project, and because of the controversy the World Bank then decided they would not do the insurance. We were really annoyed, and the President was also annoyed. The only thing that saved us was that the majority shareholder, Mr. Benny Steinmetz, used his private money to arrange the insurance through a private company. At that point, the President went to Kono and asked everybody what was happening. He saw the reality of the case and on that basis he took a decision as a leader to back us. We had done everything to look after the local community but were delayed by them. Today, we have solved the resettlement issue and Kono is quiet and we see that as a personal triumph. If there are any problems we go immediately and stay there until a solution is found.

After winning the concession to Kono the attacks began pouring again. And this despite the fact that although there are lots of concessions granted in Sierra Leone, only one company is operating, us. Other companies only submit reports without giving any profit to the community, without creating any jobs, they only pay the fees for the concessions. They do nothing that would produce profit apart from the fees for leasing the surface. We are the only company operating and therefore the only target. That is why they want to attack and criticize then they have to criticize us. I believe that we should start applying for these idle leased lands and do something that would serve the Sierra Leonian community. There is an under utilization of resources, which is bad for development. We have to provide jobs and engage people. The government should change its strategy towards those people sitting on their concessions. They have to be given time limits.

Summit Communications: Just to return briefly to the problems that you had in Kono. President Kabbah went to Kono and resolved the situation; a Special Panel in the government also recently awarded you the Tongo concession. How would you characterize your relationship with the government?

Mr. Sadiq Silla: The secret of this good relationship is that we are really focused on performance, and any leader looks to those who perform. We believe that the people want to see the physical evidence and benefits of our work so we perform. At the beginning, when we went to Kono with the President and the Vice-President, they were surprised at seeing me. They said they expected a big guy who was resolving all these problems. I have read a lot about the fall of the big mining companies here in the past and one of the major problems was that people used too much political strength to resolve issues. But what creates real strength is performance. We respect these powerful people and we are in contact with them, but we rely on our performance. If we spend 70% of our effort in politics only 30% would be given to performing and creating profit for people. When you perform friendships take care of themselves. We know the literature, we know our job, we are up-to-date and we stick to the rules and laws of the country. This way we are happy, the people are happy, the government are happy and the shareholders as well. That is our secret, and not a special relationship. The government sees our method as the best way out. This is why we have their understanding and support. If you go to our site you will see a first class presentation.

Summit Communications: Well Mr. Silla, I'd like to thank you for your time and also to you a final opportunity to send a direct message to the readers of the New York Times. Please go ahead.

Mr. Sadiq Silla: The country is very appealing for investment, and people should have no hesitation or doubts about the peace attained in Sierra Leone. One very important thing to have in mind when doing a project here is to collaborate with the people in the country, to understand the culture. You need to rely on their expertise and knowledge and interaction to make things work. I would tell the audience to come and see the country, do what you believe in, focus on performance rather than anything else in your projects. You have to adapt you mind to the culture of the country, understand its people, but you will see that even if you want to introduce changes if you do it appropriately and they are positive changes you will end up having people support you little by little, just like our Kimberlite operations. Concentrate on performance, understand the culture, do your best, believe in yourself and the sky is the limit.