ZWEDRU: The nightmare of bad road in Grand Gedeh County and other parts of the Southeastern region is about to be put to rest as Minister Ruth Coker-Collins reveals plan for the groundbreaking and subsequent pavement of the road corridor from Tappita, Nimba Count, to Toe Town in Grand Gedeh County.
The Public Works Minister urged the people of Grand Gedeh to prepare themselves for the massive road works ahead beginning with the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of the road between Tappita and Toe Town, which according to her, will be held either in June or July of this year.
“We will be coming to you soon so that we can have one big program for the groundbreaking for the 40 kilometers road from Tappita to Toe Town and the contractors will get started with the work. So Commissioner, Chiefs, elders and the youth, prepare yourselves for this program because in this same program, we will talk about the road from Toe Town to Zwedru,” Minister Coker-Collins noted amidst massive applause and cheers from the crowd.
The Public Works Minister in a statement delivered during a welcoming ceremony held in her honor in Dougee Town, Grand Gedeh County reassured the people of Grand Gedeh County that they have not and will never be forgotten by the President of the Republic of Liberia.
She added that the President has made it clear to them (Lieutenants of Coalition for Democratic Change Government) on numerous occasions that the people of the Southeast deserve a road and that they will do everything humanly possible to deliver on this promise made to the people of the Southeast.
“The President called us and inquired how we can give you a road and we advised him how to do it and this is what we are currently doing.” the Ministry of Public Works boss maintained.
She asserted that the President instructed them to commence the road works from the beginning, which is from Ganta upward on ground that they can’t be jumping over one stretch for another.
“It is the same road coming but we can’t be jumping over places, so I want the people of Grand Gedeh to understand us on this front. This is why we have come to explain to our people how this road business work” Minister Coker-Collins emphasized.
Meanwhile, Minister Coker-Collins further disclosed to Grandgedians that the paper work for the pavement of the 85 kilometers road corridor from Tappita to Zwedru has been completed and that the World Bank has informed them of the availability of funds for actual pavement.
“The thing I have come to tell the people of Grand Gedeh County is that the money is available for the pavement of the road from Tappita to Zwedru and that the World Bank has instructed us to commence the tendering process of the project,” Minister Coker-Collins maintained.
“So I don’t want you to say that you have been forgotten, I think the people of Grand Gedeh County should be happy for such news,” she added.
However, the MPW boss lamented that they are aware of the difficulty Grand Gedians go through as it relates to the bad condition of the road but cited that all is now in place in order to remedy the situation for a short term pending the actual pavement works which is expected soon.
She reassured people of the County as well as other Liberians who use the route to commute from one place to another that the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Public Works will ensure that the road is pliable during the rainy season and onward until pavement can reach the city of Zwedru.
“I think you saw machines from the Ministry of Public Works passing, those machines are for the Ministry and very soon you will see trucks passing with rocks which are intended to maintain the entire stretch from Tappita to Zwedru,” Minister Coker-Collins said.
She added: “We will put rocks to those bad places because the old people say when someone is washing your back you should wash your front, and the front we are washing is by maintaining the road until the asphalt can come”.
Against this backdrop, the MPW technician called on the citizenry of Grand Gedeh County to collaborate with the contractors as well as partners in making sure the project be a success.
“We need you to work with us so that when we need water to drink you will give it to us, when we need kola nuts to eat you will make it available,” MPW boss cited.
The news of the maintenance and subsequent pavement of the 85 kilometers road corridor from Tappita to Zwedru was greeted with thunderous applause from the locals of Grand Gedeh County, with many expressing optimism on the success of the project.
The ongoing Southeastern road inspection tour by the Public Works Minister is intended to assess the ongoing road projects along that corridor which will subsequently inform the government’s decision on the next course of action.
Courtesy-LINA
