DONALD BULL General Manager of Sierra Leone Airports Authority

Summit Communications: In late June, Sierra Leone hosted the Conference on Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration and Stability in Africa. UN troops are also set to leave by January 2006 - a clear indication of the international community's confidence in your country's return to peace and stability. MR. BULL, please share your thoughts on the durability of the peace here in Sierra Leone.

Mr. Donald Bull: It is of great importance to emphasize the pull out of the UN troops and the obvious implications. The peace and stability is here to stay. I'll tell you the reason why I believe this because of the culture of the average Sierra Leonean. War is not in the nature of Sierra Leoneans. This was not our war; it was a war that was brought to us by others penetrating our borders. Those few Sierra Leoneans who were involved either through coercion or through their own choice were the exception and people can see that they have finished the conflict with nothing. The only people to profit from the war have been the international gangsters. There is no desire on the part of the Sierra Leoneans to go down that route again. We are a friendly and non-aggressive people.

Things are also moving in the right direction. If you had seen the level of destruction just four or five years ago you wouldn't believe where we are today. The turnaround has been very fast and this is thanks to the will of the people. There is so much potential here that we have no business being poor.

Also, peace is coming to the wider region. Liberia will soon hold elections and things look much more stable there and, whilst there are problems in Guinea, they have never erupted into war.

Summit Communications: Leading such a strategic is a real challenge and includes a diverse number of different functions and yet you have made a real difference to the day-to-day operations of the SLAA by implementing management reforms to help make the airport more financially sustainable and customer-focused. Please share with the readers of the New York Times how these reforms reflect your vision of what the SLAA should be.

Mr. Donald Bull: I have earned the respect of people here. I started on 5th May 1997 and the military coup took place on the 25th May 1997 before I even received my first paycheck. Throughout the troubles I stayed here in Freetown and continued to work from this office. In fact, this very office, this very table where we are sitting was used as a base by the West African ECOMOG forces who came in to reinstall President Kabbah. They used to make phone calls from this office and we would meet here. Now, during this time of course my staff were scattered across the country and in fact for ten months no flights came to Freetown. I had to keep the Airport Authority going and I managed because of the respect that people had for me which allowed me to borrow money every month in order to pay our employees. I borrowed for ten months until we could begin operations again and I could start to generate money again.

When I was still Acting General Manager I traveled to Washington with the then Minister of Transport & Communications to negotiate a loan from the World Bank. I argued our case so well and the Minister was so impressed with me that he rang the board to tell them to hire me on the spot. Of course, they had to follow their procedure but I ended up getting the job. Then of course the conflict came to Freetown and the World Bank suspended all of it loans to the government of Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone Airports Authority was the only institution in Sierra Leone that the World Bank continued to loan money to throughout the war. That money and funds from other donors allowed us to complete an extensive investment program for the modernization and repair of the runway which now accommodates all sizes of aircraft, it allowed us to upgrade the passenger terminals and the purchase of new safety, security and navigational equipment.

Recently, we approached the World Bank again. In fact, we hope to sign the papers regarding this next loan in the next few weeks. We approached the World Bank for a US$ 6mln loan and once again they were so convinced by us that in principle they have agreed to support us with a loan that they raised the amount to US$ 9mln on their own account. This investment to will allow us to update air traffic, security and safety equipment, and improve essential airport infrastructure. We provide our own water and electricity up here so it is essential for us to invest some money in that and improve the provision of these basic needs.

Summit Communications: Last month at an opening ceremony for a health clinic, you said that the Lungi International Airport could now be compared to any international airport in the world because of its modern facilities. It seems you see the clinic as the final piece in a jigsaw puzzle.

Mr. Donald Bull: No! Not at all! This is just the beginning. We are very ambitious and we plan to carry on improving this airport. For instance, we need a bigger customer terminal. We would like a custom-built one. We need another runway as well. An SN Brussels plane hit a bird when landing the other year and because we didn't have any towing equipment it was stuck on the runway. We had to close down the airport until we managed to move it. There is not time to rest and sit on your laurels. We are constantly looking to improve our performance and our infrastructure. I always say to the government. We are an international organization and we run according to international standards. In fact, there is no such ting as a Third World airport. A runway is a runway wherever you go; air traffic control equipment is air traffic control equipment whether you are in London Heathrow or in Lungi International Airport. We operate according to International Air Transport Association's (IATA) stipulations. And that is what we do; we fulfil or even try to exceed what is demanded of us. We receive a lot of complements. People are impressed by our facilities and the cleanliness of the airport. People even go to the toilet and think "Wow! I didn't expect this level of cleanliness in an African airport."

Also the industry is constantly changing. The jigsaw puzzle is changing and the pieces that fit today might not fit tomorrow. We source funding from the World Bank and others like the African Development Bank (ADB).

The clinic you're referring to is an important addition to our infrastructure. The World Health Organization (WHO) team came here and asked us what we knew about SARS. I joked with them I said ask yourselves! I don't even know how to spell SARS. They were kind enough to provide us with money to build a health post at the hospital. They have provided the staff and are paying their salaries and they even donated a Toyota ambulance. The construction of a health post at the airport is an important venture, as this will facilitate the early response of first aid treatment to patients in emergency situations more especially with a standby disaster management team.

We have developed a very good maintenance culture here. We take care and improve on what is given us. The Ghanaian UNAMSIL forces that were based up at the airport recently handed over the buildings that they constructed at the airport - these are steel structures with accommodation for the officers, a mess hall and other buildings for our use. The Ghanaian commander said that when he arrived at this airport five years ago and saw the state that it was in he was acutely disappointed. Today looking around he was amazed at the transformation. He said that was why he was pleased to be handing over these buildings because he knew that the Airport Authority would make it a point of duty to take good care of them and even improve upon them.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) team will be visiting us at the end of October to assess our facilities and see if they fall within acceptable standards. We are confident that we will get their certification. That is the first step for us to get the United States' Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) certification and thereby be able to fly directly between the United States and Sierra Leone. Things are moving. We already have SN Brussels a major European carrier flying here. Emirates Airlines and Kenya Airlines will start to Freetown in November.

Summit Communications: Freetown's strategic location between the northern and southern hemispheres makes it a prospective hub for inter-continental traffic. The Airport Authority has lost market share from neighboring countries like Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire and is keen to entice big carriers back to Freetown. What are you doing to recapture that air traffic?

Mr. Donald Bull: Well you have to compare like to like. We are not the same size as an airport like Lagos. We have far fewer flights and things like baggage loss are more of a problem in larger airports where people are in transit. Usually one flight arrives at a time so you find that the ground crew and the airport staff are really focused on that one flight. That is an advantage of our size. Sometimes small is beautiful and at Lungi you certainly get personalized attention. I have never ever heard of any complaints about lost luggage.

We are very focused on our human resources. That is maybe what gives us our edge. That and the fact that we are never satisfied. I myself continue to go on courses. This is a very fast-moving industry and you have to keep up with all the latest developments. We invest in training all of the staff at the SLAA and they are really the lynchpin of our success. We are experts in everything! In all aspects of Airport operations.

Summit Communications: Some forecast that business travel growth is to climb by 9 per cent annually. What are your expectations for business and tourism passenger growth in the coming years? Is Lungi prepared for the increase in traffic?

Mr. Donald Bull: Just a decade ago, the country welcomed around 100,000 tourists a year. Certainly, the airport is ready to handle ten even twenty times the traffic volume we currently handle. The runway has the capacity to handle the world's largest commercial aircraft, including Boeing 747s. We have the basic infrastructure in place, what perhaps might not be ready yet is the market. In terms of business traffic we expect a 3-4% rise year-on-year but tourism is what could really take off. Once basic things like electricity you're staying in a two or three star hotel but you're paying over one hundred dollars a night but this is because of the massive overheads. A hotel might be spending 70% of its turnover on fuel and the price keeps going up. Once these things are sorted out - and the President has promised electricity for Freetown by December of this year - one the road network has improved then the tourists will start coming back. Maybe not next year but certainly by 2007 we expect to see the numbers begin to climb.

Summit Communications: The first contact people have with Sierra Leone is Freetown Airport. How does the airport reflect the image and character of Sierra Leoneans?

Mr. Donald Bull: In many ways we don't. We are a window to the world and we see ourselves as an international not a local company. We aim to raise the standard for the rest of the country to follow. In terms of our natural strengths, well people here are very friendly and very welcoming to foreigners. That is something you will notice as soon as you come here. There is a great warmth and sincerity in the greeting from Sierra Leoneans. We are welcoming to strangers sometimes to our own detriment - a Sierra Leonean will prefer a foreigner to his own brother and you will see that if there is ever any disagreement between a Sierra Leonean and a foreigner then they will take the side of the foreigner.

Summit Communications: As you can see from the layout of our reports we are not just interested in interviewing a country's leading institutions we are also interested in interviewing the people who are spearheading the transformation in a country. MR. BULL, please share with the readers of the New York Times a little about your background and how it has influenced the way you carry out your job.

Mr. Donald Bull: I worked in aviation for many years. I started in air traffic control.

Summit Communications: I'd like to introduce the next question with the words of the great Nelson Mandela. He said and I quote: "After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb." Sierra Leone has traveled a long way in a short period of time. What are your hopes and aspirations for your country in the coming years?

Mr. Donald Bull: I'd like to see Sierra Leone as one of the best countries in Africa. We have the natural resources and really we should be up there with South Africa and with Botswana. The government that is here is encouraging. I used to say that I would go and build myself a house in Ghana and Nigeria and leave this place for good. Now, I am encouraged by what I see here. The government is serious and things are moving in the right direction. I will stay here. I will build my house here.

There has been a tremendous brain drain in this country. I would like to see Sierra Leoneans around the world coming back to this country. My son has just graduated in IT and my daughter still has a year of her accountancy studies to go. She in particular is desperate to come back here to Sierra Leone. The standard of life she can have here is much better than over in Europe or in the UK. Many old people too want to come back to Sierra Leone. They have no standard of life in the UK. Over there when you get old you are carted off to a home but we Sierra Leoneans are used to living with our people. Over there you spend all day in the house, don't answer the door, don't answer the phone unless it rings ten times - that's no kind of life incarcerated in your house. Here, they can sit out on their veranda watch the world go by, we drive them around the city so they get some air.

People in the UK when they see me, when they see how I am dressed, the car I drive, the good life I live their jaws drop. I see people from over there and they scuttle off. They don't live well. Some of them are still in bedsitters. People of forty, fifty years old, university graduates even and they are in bedsitters. Of course, university graduates are two a penny over in the UK but not here. Here, you can make difference. Here, I make a difference and I have a status I could never have in the UK. This country needs those people, those skills, those serious people that can make a difference.