President George Manneh Weah has commissioned a raw water pipeline that will deliver raw water to the treatment plan at White Plains, saying Liberia under his rule will not be complacent in pushing forward to attracting more additional projects from the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).
“Liberia Will not remain complacent with this achievement, but we will make it our mission to strive to gain more projects,” Mr. Weah said Wednesday, 28 April in the township of Harrisburg, rural Montserrado.
Speaking further about the commissioning of the project, Mr. Weah says the achievement should be seen as a gateway to more additional opportunities and projects from the United States government and other donor partners.
“I’m delighted today to form part of this history making process marking the closure of the Millennium Challenge Account Liberia project, and the Commissioning of the raw water pipeline that will deliver raw water to the treatment plan at White Plains,” Mr. Weah says.
According to him, the MCA projects enjoy broad based partisan support within the US Congress, which makes the compact a true support of the American people to the people of Liberia.President Weah notes that Liberia was fortunate to be among few countries in the world that are eligible to receive the Millenium Challenge Compact project.
He adds that Liberia’s selection puts it in the privileged groups of beneficiaries that have performed with distinction when it comes to democratic rights and the control of corruption that is reflected in the MCC score cards.
“As President of Liberia I’m taking these achievements serious, and therefore assure the American people that my government will prioritize due care that is required of the investment made under this compact,” he continues.
President Weah states that in order to ensure that Liberia’s performance on the MCC scorecards is realized, he directed the MCC scorecards legislative committee to work closely with the US government, and MCC to enable Liberia’s qualifications for the next compact.
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Giving a brief overview of the MCCA Liberia project, the Chief Executive officer Mr. Monie Captan says MCC came into force on 20 January 1996, and it has provided a grant of over US$256m for energy and road projects.
Mr. Captan explains that those projects were selected in response to a finding from Liberia Economic Analysis of 2013 to have access to reliable electricity and poor road connectivity which were seen as a binding constraint to economic growth.
He says the compact served as it’s project objectives to provide access to more reliable,and affordable electricity, and to improve the planning and execution of routine periodic and emergency roads maintenance.
According to Mr. Captan, the projects’ are intended to facilitate the compact’s objective which is poverty reduction, adding that it was achieved by alleviating binding constraints to growth, thereby stimulating economic growth which led to employment and income generation.
The compact according to him was administered by the Millenium Challenge Account Liberia, an accountable entity established by an act of Legislature on 23 October 2015 as a legal independent and autonomous agency of the Government of Liberia.
He details that the electricity project provided funding for the Mount Coffee Hydro Project, noting that the compact covers about 40% of the project cost, while the Norwegan government , Germany and it’s development Bank, including the European Investment Bank covered the remaining cost of the project.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador accredited to Liberia Michael A. McCarthy extols the Government of Liberia and it’s development partners for the huge milestone.
Mr. McCarthy extends heartfelt congratulations to the government and people of Liberia for this great achievement, saying he celebrates the combination of Liberia’s membership in an exclusive countries that are qualified to receive and completed the MCC.
By Lewis S. Teh–Edited by Winston W. Parley
