The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning has provided the initial amount of US$ 1 million for the continued incremental implementation of the projects emanating from the President George Weah’s recent County Tour.
The US$1 million will begin the implementation of few of the over 400 projects across the entire country during the 2021 budget year as President Weah calls on Liberians to exercise patience.
According to him, more resources will be allocated in the 2022 and 2023 national budgets to fully fulfill these promises as an expression of his passionate commitment to assuring the inclusive development of the country.
Meanwhile, the implementation of the President’s commitments will cost millions of United States dollars targeted at roads, hospitals, clinics, schools, TVET centers, market buildings, city halls, youth centers, women centers, disable community centers and housing and pro-poor housing constructions.
The project when implemented also covers funding to market women and local farmers to stimulate and support the rural economy, while also providing streetlights and other electrification projects across the entire country to foster national development.
To ensure the efficient and effective implementation of the projects, all projects that are selected under this first tranche will commence by November 20, 2021 with the expected completion date set for March 2022.
The projects will largely be implemented by LACE and other relevant lead agencies of the government with oversight leadership from the Ministry of State for Presidential Affairs and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
This amount is a demonstration of the government’s strong commitment to implementing projects promised by President Weah during the tour and this initial fund will progressively accelerate the implementation of his developmental commitments to citizens.
The County Tour Technical Secretariat will provide operational support and coordination for the effective implementation of the projects as the Ministry of Public Works implement a large portfolio of roads and infrastructure projects under the County Tour framework.
The Ministries of Commerce and Agriculture will drive the market women US$ 2 million loan and farmers US$ 16 million agriculture support schemes, while the Gender Ministry and the Ministry of Youth and Sports will implement the social services and youth empowerment related projects.
The energy and city electrification projects will be implemented by Rural Renewable Energy Agency with support from the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Also under the President’s commitments, the country will see the construction and upgrading of many hospitals, clinics, universities and schools from the Ministries of Health and Education, respectively.
The implementation of these projects will add to the large number of county tour related projects that are currently ongoing across the country, including the 100- bed Bopolu Hospital in Gbarpolu County and the newly constructed Gbediah Hospital in Rivercess County.
It can be noted that in his quest to decentralize development and growth across the country, President Weah visited 14 of the 15 counties this year to listen to the development needs of the people.
Excluding Montserrado County, which is yet to be visited due to the intensity of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Weah received hundreds of petitions from millions of Liberians in the rural counties with a promise to address their socio-economic and infrastructure development needs.
President Weah who is unhappy with the chronic and dismal level of underdevelopment plaguing the country since it was founded about 200 years ago, committed to implementing over 400 projects across the country to achieve fiscal and infrastructural decentralization of the country’s resources to benefit rural Liberians.