By Laurina B Lormia (Cub-Reporter)
The Port of Buchanan continues to face severe threats from coastal erosion and rising sea levels.
These environmental challenges have resulted in significant flooding and erosion, thus jeopardizing the port’s operations.
It can be recalled that, on May 21, 2024 there was a terrible experience with the sea erosion which led to the immediate halt of operation on the Port for approximately two days.
According to them, the erosion led to displacement of containers, relocation of cars and other objects from inside to outside the port; destruction of electricity and over flooding of the entire peer and administrative building which halted its activities.
Addressing the press on Friday, May 31, 2024, the Executive Director of the Port of Buchanan, Jonathan Kaipay said the coastline is not only disrupting port activities but is also causing substantial financial losses for the Liberian government, amounting to millions of United States dollars in lost revenue.
According to him, Liberia is gradually losing that port and may eventually lose revenue generation due to the sea erosion if immediate action is not taken.
“Therefore, we are appealing to the Government of Liberia through the Managing Director, Mr. Sekou H. Dukuly who has been doing well in lifting ports across the country, to bring a technical team that will conduct a feasibility study and construct a new coastal defense wall to save the second largest port in Liberia.
“I cannot tell how much money will be needed to provide a solution for the coastal defense wall because I am not a technician, but from my little experience in government, particularly at the Liberian Senate, it will be over one or two million in United States dollars,” he noted.
“I want to express excitement and appreciation to Mr. Dukuly for dispatching a team to conduct an assessment of the Port to immediately address the challenges comforting the port,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the National Port Authority (NPA), Dukuly, recently concluded a preliminary assessment visit to the Port of Buchanan and the visit aimed to gather firsthand information and experiences about the challenges the port is faced with.
During the team’s assessment, they discovered that there is an immediate intervention to relocate the administrative building of the Port, construct a coastal defense and expansion of the Port peer to enable the facility raise more revenues and mitigate the flooding erosion.
The team assessment further uncovered that the Port of Buchanan is fast disappearing and has the potential of denying government of millions in revenue generation due to low costal defense which has overstayed its usefulness thereby allowing erosion to come on shore, stalling operation and damaging properties at the facility.
