By Patrick N. Mensah, Maryland
The people of Southeast Liberia, especially Maryland County are to benefit from a modern petroleum storage terminal, at an estimated cost of US$6 million.
Construction work on the storage terminal, which is ongoing in Harper City, Maryland County Electoral District#1, is expected to be completed shortly and ready for dedication on January 30th.
Addressing a news conference on Monday, January 16, in Harper, Chief Executive Officer of Power Oil Liberia/Express Oil, Leon Daniel Nyentue, expressed excitement about the level of work ongoing at the project site.
Mr. Nyentue disclosed that work on the facility is about ninety-five percent complete, and it’s expected to be ready for dedication in the coming days.
He said the project is nearing its two years stipulated timeline so, they are during everything to have it completed and dedicated.
CEO Nyentue explained that construction of the multipurpose office complex and petroleum storage facility is aimed at promoting the economy of the county especially, the Port of Harper and the Southeast at large.
The investment will help in addressing age-old problems associated with supply of petroleum products to major southeastern counties, including Maryland, River Gee, Grand Kru, and Grand Gedeh, respectively.
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He further disclosed that the new facility contains three major tanks that will store about 940,000 gallons of fuel and gasoline respectively.
“Let me make this clear, the tanks when completed will have three major facilities right, and within it we will put both fuel and gasoline, meaning one will host two hundred-sixty thousand gallons and the other will take two hundred-eighty thousand gallons of fuel while the other will take four hundred thousand gallons of gasoline respectively”, he detailed.
He commended the Weah administration especially, authorities at the Harper Port, for reposing trust in his company to construct such a facility in the southeast.
However, the CEO urged the government to put serious attention on the revitalization of the port to ease the stress citizens faced in importing petroleum and other essential commodities.
This paper gathers that the project is in fulfillment of promises made by President Weah after his first county tour to the southeast in 2021 which led to groundbreaking for the construction of a petroleum storage terminal at the Port of Harper.
During the groundbreaking, President Weah promised that the facility will have the capacity to store more petroleum in the county as part of his government’s Pro-poor agenda.
Currently, due to the bad roads in the southeast and high transportation fares to get to the region, goods are sold there at exorbitant prices.
This paper also gathers that a 25kg bag of rice is sometimes sold for LD3,500 or LD4000, while a gallon of gasoline costs between LD1,400 and LD1,600, based on demand.
