Capitol Hill, Monrovia – 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.
Report by Gerald C. Koinyeneh, [email protected]
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.
President George Weah, like his predecessor, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is heavily engaging Liberia’s development partners for loans and grants to connect the country with paved roads, something he believes is the surest way in reducing poverty and spurring economic growth.
“We’ve been hearing in bits and pieces that our international partners have committed to do this road and the problem lies with us, as partners to the international community to do our part. What our part is that we have not done, we don’t know. So, it will be appropriate for the Minister to come and give us a briefing.”
Rep. Johnson Gwaikolo of District #9, Nimba County.
But despite the rectification of several loan agreements by the Legislature for the asphalt pavement of the road leading from Ganta to the Southeast, construction works have not started.
And it appears that most of the lawmakers are becoming impatient and demanding answers from the Executive through the Ministry of Public works.
“We’ve been hearing in bits and pieces that our international partners have committed to do this road and the problem lies with us, as partners to the international community to do our part. What our part is that we have not done, we don’t know. So, it will be appropriate for the Minister to come and give us a briefing,” Said Rep. Johnson Gwaikolo of District #9, Nimba County.
Also speaking, Rep. Francis Young, (District #2, River Gee County) decried the deplorable road condition of the region has brought untold sufferings to the people.
“It is so pathetic to discuss this ancient road issue today. We long been crying over and over. Here we are now in the raining season,” he lamented.
“Because of this southeastern road, we sign financing agreements happily, thinking that these agreement would have given birth, redeeming the Southeasterners, but to no avail. Today, the southeast has been cut from the rest of Liberia. Are we not part of the country,” he asked rhetorically.
The Ganta-Southeast road is not only one of the most pliable routes in Liberia. It connects the country’s second largest and most sophisticated hospital, the Jackson F. Doe Memorial Hospital to the rest of the country.
In the height of the rainy season, the hospital becomes inaccessible because of the horrible condition of the road. In some instances, patients in critical condition die along the way.
“This road connects the second referral hospital in Liberia. If that road is in perfect condition, life will be saved. If we can’t do anything for our people, I believe this is the best time to speak for them,” pleaded Rep. Dorwohn Twain Gleekia, whose constituency (District #6, Nimba County) plays host to the hospital.
Rep. Gleekia revealed that the government has entered several contractual agreements for the maintenance of the road, but no work has being done.