By Sam Mannah – Presidential Press Secretary
No, Liberia is not in a mess, not even close. It’s the likes of some of you out there who think you know it all; or it’s either your way or no other way.
How can we be in a mess when within 5 months in power: we have laid the foundation for the construction of the first Military Hospital, paid 34,000 students WAEC fees; recalled 5 concession agreements from the National Legislature because they weren’t in the interest of the ordinary citizens; compelled Mittal Steel to live up to their promise to pave the road connecting Ganta to Yekepa, commenced negotiations to have Robertsfield Highway expanded into a four-lane highway; established a US1 million Credit Line for small Liberian businesses, installed 736 out of 2,000 street lights all over Monrovia; initiated discussions to maximize electricity through an alternative means; called for the reduction in tariffs on all basic commodities imported into the country, and currently paving the road connecting the Doe Community to Clara Town?
How can we be in a mess when we are changing the roofs on every home in the Gibraltar Community (President Weah’s personal initiative), commenced the installation of an online digital registration platform at the University of Liberia, as well as the provision of free Wi-Fi for students on the main campus of the University of Liberia, placed about 480 PSL teachers on Government payroll, allocated US $500,000 for the renovation of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, allocated funds to repair 32 NTA buses to aid with public transportation, about to embark on a US$7 million housing project to develop rural and slum communities, put in austerity measures to help reduce wasteful spending in Government by standardizing compensation across Government and also making cuts affecting
over 4,000 Government employees that are high earners. The President led the way by being the first to reduce his salary by 25%?
And now we are poised to construct more paved roads in our first term than the entire past administrations combined within our over 170 years of existence.
Since our inception as a sovereign Nation about 170 years ago, we have only been able to pave 750 kilometers of road out of a total 11,000 kilometers of road network.
That’s about a 94% deficit of unpaved road. President Weah, sensing the need to reduce this deficit has embarked on a robust road construction campaign to construct a total of an additional 759 kilometers of road within the first 3 years of his Presidency.
The issue is not about taking loans, but using the loans for the intended purpose, something our President is committed to doing. Development is not cheap, but the overall economic benefits it brings are unmeasurable. Liberia cannot be developed with our annual 500 plus million dollars budget that is mostly based on projected revenue and donors’ contribution.
NO! Liberia is not in a mess at all, neither are we close to being in one. We are heading for great success.
Hope is Still Alive!!