Monrovia – Francis Darko, an engineer’s assistant working on the renovation of Liberia’s Executive Mansion is confidently hopeful that a significant part of the official home of the presidency could be ready by the inauguration of the next President of the Republic of Liberia next January.
Report by Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
Dormant Since a 2006 fire interrupted the Independence Day Ceremony – the seat of the Liberian Presidency has been engulfed in controversy amid audit discoveries and a public condemnation by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, unhappy with the work and pace of the project.
As she prepares to turn power over to the next government, the Sirleaf administration is racing against time to have the facility ready in time for inauguration next year, bearing further complications and allotment of funds to meet the targeted date.
“I think it is safe to say, we’re forty percent there, the current progress of the project is approximately 40% complete,” Darko told FrontPageAfrica during a tour recently to assess the current status of renovation work which has been lingering for the better part of the past eleven years, since a July 26 2006 fire incident disrupted the celebration of Liberia’s 159th Independence anniversary.
Said Darko: “The piping, the ceiling, the security building, exterior walls, the perimeter fence, in fact all the panels were replaced – from the front, the conduit systems, the air condition system, the demolition work, the stripping and virtually everything that makes the building functional. We are doing all we can to make sure that the main floor and most of the offices will be completed before the next government takes office.”
The renovation of the eight-storey building, first constructed in 1964 during the tenure of Liberia’s 18th President, William V. S. Tubman, Sr, with assistance from the government of Israel, has been swirling in controversy for years.
An audit by the General Auditing Commission reported that Milton and Richards Architectural/Engineering Consultancy Firm, Agent of the Ministry of State failed to ensure that the Chinese firm, QNQC Qingjian International execute the contract based on the terms and conditions which subsequently led to the contractor’s substandard performance, thus resulting in a wasteful expenditure of US$10,443,959.61 by the Government of Liberia.
The report held the Managements of the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs and Milton and Richards Architectural/Engineering Consultancy Firm jointly and severally accountable for the payment.
The Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs and VAXS Inc. entered into a contract on March 13, 2013 for an amount totaling US$643,995.00 for a security surveillance system specifically designed for the entire Executive Mansion Building, its perimeter and grounds including gates.
Financial and construction issues was evident when an angry President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf visited the site in May 2014 to assess the work. While there, the President expressed strong dissatisfaction over the pace and quality of the renovation.
The President at the time condemned the work by the Chinese contractors forcing the government to bring in new contractors to take on the task.
The renovation saga has been complicated by political turmoil and uncertainty with many questioning why the President has been working out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and not the official seat of the presidency.
More recently, speculations have been rife that some US$10 million dollars approved to continue the renovation is being diverted toward the candidacy of the Standard bearer of the opposition Coalition for Democratic Change, a charge the Executive Mansion has dismissed.
The Executive Mansion building comprises eight floors, including a basement and a mezzanine floor and imposes a magnificent aura on its surrounding environs.
During a tour by FrontPageAfrica, engineers said much of the work over the past few months have been focused on demolition of unwanted portions and clearing up the many flaws of the previous contractors.
It was constructed over a three – year period, from 1960 to 1963. The entire project was designed and supervised by Stanley Engineering Company of Africa; and the Construction Contractor was Liberian Construction Corporation (LCC).
The project was officially dedicated on January 3, 1964, the seat of the Executive branch of the Government of the Republic of Liberia.
The building was designed and is being used for four basic functions; the official residence of the President of Liberia, Offices of the President and Staff of the Ministry of State, reception and living accommodations for guest/dignitaries and maintenance/technical sections.
Since the completion of construction works on the Executive Mansion in 1963, there had been two major rehabilitation works executed on the building.
The first renovation/rehabilitation of works was executed during the 1988 /89 under the reign of the late President Samuel K. Doe while the second renovation work was executed during the tenure of former President Charles Taylor in 1997-1998.
Due to the 2006 fire, The Government of Liberia initiated the third renovation on the executive Mansion. The Government has awarded 7 (seven) contracts for the renovation of the Executive Mansion amounting to US$31,705,072 during the audit periods.
The Government has paid US$15,769,800.21 to the contractors per the documents provided by the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs and Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
Over its life span, the building has been subjected to several space modifications and maintenance processes. However, a fire outbreak incident which occurred in 2006 reiterated the need for a complete & comprehensive renovation/rehabilitation of the structure.
In view of this, the Government of Liberia solicited the services of CESAF Liberia Ltd, through its Ministry of State, for the execution of the Executive Mansion Renovation & Rehabilitation Project.
The Project, under its unique delivery method, is planned to be implemented under two distinct phases; Action Point 1: the execution of design and mobilization activities (May 2015 to Nov. 2015) and Action Point 2: Implementation phase. Action Point two of The Project is further divided into stages.
CESAF Liberia Ltd was contracted for the execution of Action Point 1.
Alfred Karpeh Gipli, Program Officer says based on the project’s objective of fully rehabilitating and restoring the Executive Mansion building and grounds to it formal state with upgraded technology, a major milestone achieved under the Action Point 1 contract was the removal and demolishing of all fixtures (including WCs, bath tubs, kitchen ware, etc), fittings (mainly electrical components) and all finishes leaving the building bare for construction works to commence.
In order for the construction works to properly executed, Gipli says, it was prudent for the contractor to provide drawings and Bill of Quantities that will guide the actual construction (restoration & rehabilitation) of the project, these drawings, BoQs and other construction contract documentation were prepared and presented by the contractor to the Owner’s satisfaction.
“All of these activities were undertaken during the Action Point 1 stage of the project. Having successfully completed this stage, the Contractor was then awarded the Phase 2 Stage 1 contract for actual construction works.”
Works executed under the Phase 2 Stage 1 contract included rough-in electrical works, rough-in plumbing works, raised floors, false ceilings (fire prevention), demolishing & removal works, masonry works (partition walls, plastering, screeding), AC ducts, etc.
Gipli says the Phase 2 Stage 1 contract works were successfully completed on April 07, 2017. “To enable a seamless transition from stage to stage, all outstanding works of the Project have been captured under one contract (the Phase 2 Stage 2 contract). This contract comprises two steps.”
Step A entails that the Executive Mansion building to be completed to a stage that allows for the hosting of the Presidential Inauguration in 2018 by 31st December, 2017.
Step B entails that all remaining works under the Executive Mansion Renovation & Rehabilitation Project to take the project to 100% completion. Start date and duration of ‘Step B’ to be determined upon the availability of funds.
Works executed under the Phase 2 Stage 2 contract include installation of AC systems, wiring, installation of water supply pipes, panel boxes for various floors, outdoor AC systems housing, fire detection systems, elevator works, water proofing works, rehabilitation of steel components, outstanding concrete works, etc.
For the immediate future, the major challenge remains the availability of funds to complete the remaining 60 percent of the project but with the economic situation in a major predicament right now, it appears the incoming government in 2018 may be tasked with the responsibility of completing where the current government stops.