By Joseph Titus Yekeryan
The Workers Union at Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI) has called on Bong County lawmakers to make a case for the research institution during the ongoing National Budget hearing and debate.
CARI’s Workers Union president Augustine Johnson said Bong lawmakers should talk for the entity “if they love CARI.”
Johnson told our correspondent in Bong County that CARI is not receiving its needed support from the national coffer.
He said this is responsible for the institute’s ineffectiveness and inability to adequately serve its purposes.
He stressed that it is now time for politicians who claim they love CARI to champion the cause at the budget hearing.
He alleged that in the past, some lawmakers of the county have followed funding allocated for the operation of CARI on grounds that they made the recommendation for the appointment of the institute’s Director General.
He told reporters that the Workers Union has resolved to resist any politician that will attempt to harm CARI, warning those who are not interested in the growth of the institution to stay away.
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Johnson has also stressed the need for the Government of Liberia to set up a full management team for the institute to prevent the many political invasions at CARI.
He believes that a lone Director General can easily be controlled and carried away by politicians, as has allegedly happened in the past and even now.
In the 2023 draft National Budget, CARI has US$1,316,554.
This means that the Institute will experience a reduction of a little over 270, 000 USD compared to the 2022 budget which saw the allocation of US$1,587,232.
