The Administration of the University of Liberia (UL) along with the Faculty and Staff Associations and multiple government partner institutions held a technical meeting on Capitol Hill Tuesday, 14 December 2021 surrounding a plan for a quick impact project to hopefully start massive renovation works on its four campuses starting this December through February 2022.
During the meeting attended by engineers, technicians, and officials from the Ministry of Finance, Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), Ministry of Public Works (MPW), General Services Agency (GSA), and Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment (LACE), and among others, the UL Administration said the government has committed to the renovation works and it is on course with its commitment.
Rev. Prof. Dr. Julius Sarwolo Nelson, Jr., President of the University of Liberia said the university is deciding to do registration in February 2022 and start classes in March so that while people are away from campus, the period can be used to do most of the work that is needed to be done.
Among other things, 78 bathrooms at the University of Liberia are targeted for renovation, while painting and working on some dilapidated buildings and deplorable roads have also been discussed at the meeting.
Dr. Nelson said it is based on the discussion held with the Minister of Finance, Samuel D. Tweah, UL, and UL’s partner institutions in government that the discussions were held on Tuesday for the quick impact project to make sure all of the different assessments are done.
Dr. Nelson noted that the issue of the quick impact came in because the agreement signed with the University of Liberia Faculty Association (ULFA) was to ensure that while students are away on holidays, some works can be done to capture some major renovation on the four campuses of the university.
Dr. Nelson disclosed that this idea led to the government committing to give an upfront US$300,000 to start the work before entering 2022, adding that when students return from their holiday break, other work will be going on.
He however expressed hope that in line with the understanding reached, in 2021 there would be some funding given to start these exercises before the 2022 allocation.
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According to Dr. Nelson, funding for this entire exercise is not in the University of Liberia budget, but it’s the Government of Liberia that is making an emergency response to the situation at the university.
Representing Minister Tweah at the meeting, Mr. Del Francis Wreh, Executive Director, Liberia Macroeconomic Policy Analysis Center (LIMPAC), said the entire 375,000, when approved, will be in a special account to enable a speedy operation for the project.
He also recommended and got the approval of the University Administration to include the other stakeholder beneficiaries – ULFA and the University of Liberia Staff Association (ULSA), and the University of Liberia Students Union, so that they are not seen as not part of the process.
He said they should be part of every aspect so that they satisfy the level of work done and also trigger additional disbursement from the Ministry of Finance because they are strategic to the Ministry in terms of all the projects targeted for implementation.
Mr. Wreh added that at some phase when a project is completed, representatives of ULFA, ULSA, and the student association should go and do a tour and see what has been done.
In a PowerPoint presentation, UL Vice President for Administration Madam Benetta Joko Tarr explained that when they held a meeting with the Minister of Finance recently, he revealed to them that the government had US$300,000 to fund a quick impact project that covers a period of six weeks to give the university a facelift.
She said the university will play a supervisory role throughout the process, while different tasks will be undertaken by various government institutions. She noted that the government has committed to the renovation work and it is on course with the commitment.
Madam Tarr stated that the renovation work on the four campuses includes work on dilapidated structures, rehabilitation of restrooms, rehabilitation of road network, laboratory, and equipment of labs among others.
She expressed the university’s thanks and appreciation to the Government of Liberia and UL’s partner institutions for their collaboration.
