The Chinese International Company (CHICO) constructing the road between Bong and Lofa Counties says pavement will reach Lofa in July of this year.
The construction which started during the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s administration is expected to hit Lofa County by July of this year, CHICO has disclosed.
CHICO Media Officer, Acquailla N. Sackie, explained that the road pavement has covered a substantial part of the Lofa Road.
He said by July this year, the 45-kilometer pavement would have been completed provided all goes well, and called on residents of communities along the road to fully cooperate with the company in terms of offering their lands for collecting rocks being used for the basement.
“For now, the government is prioritizing the Lofa Road; so we too are appealing to citizens and communities along the road to please cooperate with us by borrowing our lands where we can get rocks for the road basement,” Sackie noted.
He maintained that CHICO is using “leather rock”, locally called small-small stones for the solid basement of the road.
However, Sickie said negotiation for lands that have rocks for the basement is done through the local government authority so that dwellers will get full insight of the huge economic benefits that come along with the project.
He also indicated that the issue of resettlement of residents whose structures were demolished along the road lies squarely within the purview of the government through the Ministry of Public Works.
Sackie pointed out that it is the foremost thing done before even the start of any work on the road, adding, “Surface dressing is currently being done between Weinsu and Saint Paul Bridge, while real coal tar pavement is ongoing between Gbarnga and Weinsu.”
At the same time, he said that various contracting groups are currently working across the Saint Paul Bridge on the Lofa side in the areas of hill cutting and culvert-laying, among others, based on the need for such jobs.
The Lofa Road pavement project has been signed by several regimes for implementation but to no avail, but the present administration has changed the old narrative to defeat the nightmare of bad roads across the country, including Lofa County.
This has given hope to inhabitants of Lofa County that was once branded as the “food basket of Liberia,” restoring their confidence that the county can once again return to status quo if the ongoing road project is completed.
