Gbarnga, Bong County – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Feeder Roads Alternative Management Program or FRAMP will begin the pavement of five streets in Gbarnga with chip seals, Bong County Superintendent Selena Polson Mappy has disclosed.
Report by Selma Lomax, [email protected]
Chip seal is a pavement surface treatment that combines one or more layers of asphalt with one or more layers of fine aggregate. In the United States, chip seals are typically used on rural roads carrying lower traffic volumes, and the process is often referred to as asphaltic surface treatment.
The Gbarnga Pavement, Superintendent Mappy noted, is a pilot of the FRAMP project in Liberia and will benefit four counties.
Additional streets to be paved in Gbarnga include the Progressive Street, Collin’s Streets, the Executive Drive, the Gboveh Avenue and a portion of the Madam Suakoko Street.
As part of the agreement, Bong County has an obligation to build a line of over 280 culverts along with the earthworks, which will cost the county a little over US$180,000.
Madam Mappy said a uniform approval of the project has been done by the county leadership for this ‘landmark project’.
Currently, the county is paving more than two kilometers of streets in Gbarnga.
Meanwhile, citizens of Bong are commending the Bong Legislative Caucus and the leadership of Bong County for “their sensitivity” to their plight by attracting massive infrastructural development to Gbarnga.
Speaking following an inspection tour of the ongoing construction of streets in Gbarnga, the President of the Bong Motorcycle Union, Samuel Elliot, thanked superintendent Polson-Mappy and members of the Bong Legislative Caucus for keeping their promise to construct additional roads in Gbarnga for the people of the area.
Another resident of Gbarnga, Stephen Lahai, heaped praises on the leadership of the county and members of the caucus and said the construction of additional streets in Gbarnga has demonstrated their love and commitment to the wellbeing of the people of Bong County who have been experiencing difficulties in accessing neighboring communities due to the poor condition due to the conditions of streets in the city.
Lahai said some of the streets in the city have been a nightmare to the people of the affected communities, as they usually travel to their neighboring communities through long distance roads.
Lahai told reporters Tuesday that it was an uncommon display of leadership for the leadership of the county and members of the caucus to embark on such project and other numerous development projects across the county in spite of the current economic challenges, saying that it is an indication that their leaders are visionary, and committed to alleviating the sufferings of the people.