PHOTO: A section of the newly built road
By Charles Gbayor, maorethason1997@gmail.com
HARPER, Liberia-The new Fish Town to Harper Road in Maryland County in the southeast has raised hope for residents, businesses and institutions alike, following years of commuting nightmare.
This is the result of the US$55.4 million Fish Town Harper Road Project, 66 kilometers of road that runs from Karloken to Harper City and Harper to the Cavalla Customs point, funded by the African Development Bank.
Until a few months ago, people in these areas were constrained to travel on this stretch of road that took many hours and sometimes days, encountering ditches, potholes with deep mud during the rainy season, and heavy dust during the dry season, all posing danger to both life and health of commuters.
But today, traveling along this route is the opposite and life is better, says many.
Students walking or riding motorbikes laugh and talk on their way to school in crisp clean uniforms; marketers conduct their businesses in a dust-free and mud-free environment.
Vehicles traveling from Fish Town to Harper now experience less wear and tear; and some say businesses are seeing an upswing in their bottom-lines.
The construction process was managed by the Ministry of Public Works, with China Railway #5 as its construction contractor and Comptran Group, their engineering consultant.
The asphaltic road is said to be of high quality and they were completed in November 2019. The Contractor says they used the best quality materials and highest international standards, according to Harding. Fifty kilometers run from Karloken to Harper, and 16 km from Harper to the Cavalla Customs, where Liberia borders Cote d’Ivoire.
Tubman University, which was established in 1978 and is located in the port city of Harper, boasts of six colleges in a beautiful and serene setting along this Harper Road.
According to the University’s President, Dr. Elliott Wreh Wilson, they are a direct beneficiary of the new road, socially and economically.
“Life has changed in this part of the Country,” he said.
“More students are coming now to the University. Our students from Pleebo to Harper lives have been impacted…our vehicles are doing well on the road…the mud is not there anymore…the dust is not there…people are happier, They will say we went from one to one thousand. We don’t have to repair our buses every month. Sometimes they got stuck for days, but that doesn’t happen anymore. Kids can dress nicely and come to campus and they’re clean. People are not coming late to class. Overall life is better…it’s fun living here,” said Dr. Wilson.
For the Cavalla Rubber Corporation, one of Liberia’s largest agriculture companies that export both rubber and oil palm into nearby Cote d’Ivoire, the road is said to have made a significant impact on both efficiency and revenue.
Mr. Kwabena Mensah, Technical Manager for the Company stated that prior to the opening of the road, it would take nearly 2 hours for a truck hauling rubber or oil palm to reach the Cavalla Customs, from their operation. Today it takes only 20 minutes, he said.
The Project, according to Mensah, has also dramatically reduced damages to vehicles and delays in the operation. “We are making easy trips to Harper and the Border,” said Mensah.
“Commitments with our partners have also been facilitated. The road is bringing about development,” he furthered.
Probably those breathing the greatest sigh of relief are motorists who ply the road daily for business or pleasure.
Excited passengers are seen boarding the new National Transport Authority (NTA) bus, a free bus system never seen in this part of the Country till now.
“The NTA has gotten so attracted, they have done an extension of their buses to Maryland and have started running already,” said George Prowd, Superintendent of Maryland County.
“A trip that used to take a whole day to leave from Harper to Pleebo… now takes 15 minutes,” Mr. Prowd said.
Cecelia Smith, a Harper resident and seafood vendor in Bariken market along the road summed it up best saying, “it’s super…no mistakes on this road.