Liberia: Traffic Beginning to Ease on Vai Town Road as Public Works Begins Preparatory Works for Bridge-to-Bridge Project

MONROVIA – The Vai Town Road on the Bushrod Island which had been almost impassible and traffic prone due to a slow-paced rehabilitation work is gradually becoming free of traffic as the Ministry of Public Works on Thursday removed a major road block to allow the free flow of traffic.

The Ministry of Public Works (MPW) has also begun the steel preparatory work for the bridge-to-bridge project.

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.”

Meanwhile, Plenary of the House of Representatives has summoned Public Works Minister Mobotu Nyenpan to unveil the Ministry’s plans in reconditioning major roads across the country amid the dawn of the turbulent rainy season.

The decision taken on Tuesaday, June 9 was triggered by a communication from several lawmakers of Nimba County and the Southeastern part of Liberia, craving plenary’s indulgence to invite Minister Nyenpan and his team to brief the House on plans put in place to keep the main corridor from Ganta to Southeastern Liberia from being cut off.

Plenary voted in favor of a motion proffered by Rep. Dixon Seboe (District #16, Montserrado), citing Minister Nyenpan on Tuesday, June 16, 2020. In his motion, Rep. Seboe called for the Minister to roll out maintenance plan for the entire road network in Liberia.

The lead author of the communication, Rep. Samuel Kogar (District #5, Nimba County), speaking on the floor, said the road is being cut off already, leaving dozens of travelers including marketers stranded between Ganta and a town called Gbahn, also in Nimba.

According to Rep, Kogar, since 1978, no major rehabilitation work has been carried out on the road, and despite several budgetary allocations for maintenance of the road, it is always deplorable during the rainy season.

“While it is true that it is incumbent upon us to make budgetary appropriation and several budgetary appropriations have been made in this direction and therefor based on our oversight responsibility, it is welcoming to invite the Ministry of Public Works to come and tell us plans they have to embark on the rehabilitation of this road since the raining season is here now,” Rep. Kogar said in his arguments on the floor.

It is no secret that the roads are a major challenge for Liberia’s recovery. In the rainy season, the deplorable road condition all across the country block Liberians’ access to hospitals and schools, make it difficult for farmers to transport produce before it spoils, and impede the distribution of aid.