By Sam Mannah, Presidential Press Secretary
About a fortnight ago, President George Manneh Weah signed into law two historic loan agreements to reshape Liberia’s roads network. With the signing of both agreements to construct 830 kilometers of paved roads, we are thrilled to inform the public of the major economic growth, social development and jobs creation Liberia stands to benefit.
Thanks to our visionary President, H.E. George Manneh Weah, for finally putting Liberia first by addressing this major road deficit that has plagued our Nation for over a century. His boldness towards development and his desire to transform the lives of the Liberian people cannot be overemphasized.
The acquisition of these loans to construct roads across Liberia will not only leave a landmark legacy for President Weah, but will go down in history as the first Liberian president to have left his name forever written on the hearts of the Liberian people for making the construction of roads the hallmark of his Presidency as well as his commitment to development.
This is the moment of total transformation and immense economic growth that Liberians have always yearned for since our inception as a sovereign nation over a century ago, and it took the courage of a trailblazer like our President to bring this moment to fruition.
When completed, for the first time in our existence as a sovereign nation, Liberians will be able to commute on 16 Kilometers of paved road from the Somalia Drive to the Sinkor belt.
This is not only going to change the landscape of our city, but will greatly reduce travel time to that part of the city as well as provide savings on the consumption of gasoline. It will further help reduce traffic on the Somalia drive and boost development; let alone the thousands of construction jobs it will create for our citizens.
Commuters will also have the opportunity to travel on a 112 Kilometers paved road from Tappita to Zwedru, on a 10.2 Kilometers paved road from Toe Town to the Ivorian Border, and on a 185.5 Kilometers paved road from Zwedru to Greenville. While the significance of these developments cannot be overly stated, the courage by our President to live up to his campaign promise and his commitment to deliver for the Liberian people is an unprecedented milestone achievement that is worth applauding.
President Weah’s quest to bring about total economic growth and development to Liberia will also see the construction of a 505.3 Kilometers paved road to include a 316 Kilometers stretch from Buchanan to Cestos City-Greenville-Barclayville, a 21 Kilometers paved road from Barclayville to Sasstown, a 75 Kilometers paved road from Barclayville to Pleebo, a 52 Kilometers paved road from Tubmanburg to Bopolu, and a 41.3 Kilometers paved road from Medina to Robertsport. It will intrigue you to know that these roads are expected to be completed within the first term of the Weah-led administration, thus putting our President at the peak of development in Liberia’s rich history of over 170 years.
Not only will our President be remembered as the Champion of Roads, he will forever be commended for addressing this age-old problem that has stalled economic growth and projected Liberia as a poor and failed state.
Interestingly, by the end of President Weah’s first term in office, he would have constructed more paved roads connecting all of the county capitals and affecting every region within the 43,000 radius square miles.