Weah lays block for military hospital

President George Manneh Weah has laid the first block commencing the foundation for construction work on Liberia’s first military hospital in Schiefflin near the Edward Beyan Kesselly (EBK) Military Barracks, outside Monrovia.

“… Besides that, we have a huge community here … I lived here before, so I know. There’re lot of young people that have no access to healthcare. The military hospital will help to give them access to healthcare,” Mr. Weah said Thursday morning, 3 May in Schiefflin, Margibi County after laying a block for the hospital work.

The Engineering Batalion of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) under supervision of an engineer from the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) is solely executing the construction of the 14 Military Hospital that is anticipated to have 150 to 200 – bed facility.

Mr. Weah says Defense Minister Daniel Ziankahn told him that the military will built the hospital, saying he is excited and very pleased that the military hospital is almost underway.

He notes that the army needs prestige, recalling that Liberian soldiers go out on defense operations in the region, but when they come back home, no one cares about them.

He says the military hospital is needed to cater to soldier when they return from assignment and are wounded, adding that he is glad that the army’s engineer battalion is taking care of their own hospital in line with his promise that “we will not be spectators in our own economy.”

The president says he is grateful and hopes that the military will do due diligence, assuring that government on the other hand will make sure that the hospital is completed.

After laying the block, Mr. Weah also inspected a site where a small bridge is being constructed near the military hospital to link the Roberstfield Highway to the facility.

The military say they are starting the work immediately since President Weah has already laid the block.Public Works Minister Mobutu Nyenpan says the 14 Military Hospital is very necessary for government and the AFL, first time in Liberia more than 170 years.

“We believe that this is a significant step forward in the president’s quest for infrastructural development in Liberia,” Mr. Nyenpan says.According to him, what President Weah has done is the beginning of what he promised the military and the people of Liberia.

He says the project has a duration and they will do all they can to stick within that schedule, noting that the Ministry has assigned an engineer to supervise the project.

“And as you know the project is being solely executed by the military,” Mr. Nyenpan says, adding that when completed people in Liberia and beyond will come and see that the military is not just men and women carrying arms, but professionals.

He says the Ministry of Public Works has tested the military’s capacity and reviewed the profiles of the professionals there and can say with certainty that the AFL has the capacity and professional skills to carry out the project under the supervision of the ministry.

By Winston W. Parley-Editing by Jonathan Browne