China Hands Over New Health Ministry

The Government of the People’s Republic of China has handed over the newly constructed US$5 million Health Ministry complex in Congo Town to the Government of Liberia.

Speaking at the dedicatory exercise Thursday, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf recalled that 25 years ago, the government under the administration of the late President Samuel Kanyon Doe, began construction for a permanent home for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

“It pleases me greatly that this structure, once an eyesore sheltering Liberians displaced by the war, will henceforth serve as the permanent headquarters of our Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.  We can proudly say that our dream has come true,” said the President.

The facility has been named in honor of Liberia’s first trained Medical Doctor and former Director-General of Public Health, the late Dr. Joseph Nagbe Togba, Sr. President Sirleaf described the building as a generous gift to Liberia from the Chinese government.

She thanked the Chinese Ambassador to Liberia Zhao Jianhua and the Government of the People’s Republic of China for the completion of the project.

The Liberian leader said China leaves “big footprints” in the development projects they undertake in Liberia, naming the University of Liberia Fendall Campus; the Jackson Fiah Doe Memorial Hospital and the Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center at the Central Agricultural Technology Institute (CARI) as some of their initiatives here.

President Sirleaf revealed that the Health Ministry project commenced with an exchange of letters on January 21, 2010, as a government initiative to reduce the rental costs for public offices.