Monrovia – On a busy weekday for commute last week, the facial expression of Stephen Williams, 32, said it all. The taxi driver had just spent nearly three hours in the traffic from downtown Monrovia en route to the Freeport of Monrovia.
Williams lamented: “The current bad nature of this road for several months now shows that this government has no real interest in improving the lives of citizens. This government is showing to commitment to development.”
As bad as the route has been for the past several years, going to the former administration of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the slow pace of the rehab project is raising eyebrows. “How will you fix road during rainy season? This does not even make sense to a kindergarten student. You can’t continue to contribute to situations that continue to suffer your own people,” Williams decried.
Last week, Public Works Minister Mabutu Nyenpan, Minister of State Nathaniel McGill and Finance and Economic Planning Minister Samuel Tweah toured the construction in response to the many concerns being expressed by commuters who ply the route daily.
The entire project is about 9km from the Gabriel Tucker Bridge to the St. Paul bridge. It also entails the installation of new streetlights and the asphalt overlay of the entire 9km length.
Minister Nyenpan explained to FrontPageAfrica at the weekend that COVID – 19 has had a paralysing effect on the progress of Road rehabilitation works. Notwithstanding, he averred, “some sections of the road have been stabilised. More efforts are now concentrated in the Freeport-Belimah area and within 48 hrs that section will be passable, without the current discomforting hassle. Pavement will then follow.”
President George Weah, also visited the project area on Saturday, indicative of the seriousness the administration is finally attaching to the project. Additionally, Minister Nyenpan says, multiple teams are being deployed to work on various sections simultaneously.
The minister acknowledged that the drainage system along that corridor is in a state of near collapse. “We are also working to resuscitate the system to ensure long term durability of the road corridor.”
This should come as a relief for many using what is inarguably one of the busiest traffic routes in Monrovia.
The route between the Gabriel Tucker Bridge and beyond the Freeport is often marred by heavy traffic for long stretches of a deplorable state between the National Port Authority (NPA and the vicinity of the Faith Healing Temple of JESUS Christ, Inc, founded by the late Mother Wilhemina Dukuly.
On most days, puddles of water-drenched with potholes can be seen as motorists struggle to get by andKeh-Kehs and Pen-Pen drivers are mostly are the most vulnerable.
Adding to commuters’ mystery, there is no law and order or police officers to guide the traffic. As a result motorists take matters in their own hands by driving into incoming traffic and opposite lanes to the detriment of pedestrians and street vendors.
With the government taking the decision to relax curfew up to 9pm, many hope it could ease up traffic as passengers in rush to beat the curfew are likely to take advantage of the extra time.
Faced with public pressure and confused traffic conditions, authorities of the Ministry of Public Works have promised to ensure the rehabilitation of major roads in Monrovia and its environs during the dry season. For commuters of the Vai Town route, the bad condition of the road is bad for business and travel, a somewhat ironic assessment for President Weah’s government trumpeting the remedy as the “Bad Road Medicine.”