Daily Media Summary 2016-10-04

THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2016

The signing agreement between the Government of Liberia and the People’s Republic of China for the Roberts International Airports, and the Supreme Court’s adjournment on House of Representatives’ Speaker election are the dominant stories in today’s dailies.

 

Dominant Stories 

US$50M For New RIA Terminal; Ellen Ratifies Act on China-Liberia Framework Agreement; Chinese Amb. Unveils New Terminal Design

 

The Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Zhang Yue, and a representative of the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), have unveiled to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a new Roberts International Airport Terminal that they are about to construct for the nation. The unveiling of the US$50 million terminal complex took place Monday, October 3rd, in the President’s Cabinet room, minutes after she had ratified the Act on China-Liberia Framework Agreement. President Sirleaf’s ratification coincided with the official signing ceremony of the loan agreement between the Chinese Exim Bank and the Liberian government for the Roberts International Airport (RIA) Terminal Project. In remarks before Ambassador Zhang presented a picture of the new terminal building to the President, he said that he was really amazed at the pace at which it took the Bank and the Liberian government to get the agreement into force, reports news Daily Observer.

 

Related Caption:Liberia-China Sign US$50m Agreement For RIA Terminal, Runway Projects(FOCUS), and Agreement Signed For New Airport(The INQUIRER); Much Needed Construction of Roberts International Airport Underway (FrontPage Africa)

 

Supreme Court Adjourns Showdown For Tyler’s Replacement

FrontPage Africareports that the Supreme Court of Liberia has placed a hold on the conduct of the much anticipated election for a new Speaker of the House of Representatives just less than 24 hours to the polls on Tuesday. According to the daily, the stay order was placed as a result of a petition filed by Representative Adolphus Lawrence and the ousted Speaker, Alex Tyler. The high court has scheduled two separate conferences over the matter for Wednesday with two hours between the two conferences. “Meanwhile, a stay order is placed on the elections pending the outcome of the scheduled conference,” one of the writs of adjournment states.

Related Captions:Supreme Court Bars Speaker’s Election Today-As Former Speaker Tyler, Representative Lawrence Filed Two Separate Writs Of Injunction(In Profile Daily),and Supreme Court Grants Tyler’s Plea To Stop Speaker Election(Daily Observer)

 

Other Stories 

NPA Boss Extols LIPA for Boosting Government’s Human Resource Agenda

 

National Port Authority (NPA) Managing Director, David F. William, has extolled the Liberia Institute of Public Administration (LIPA) for boosting government’s human resource agenda, indicating that human capital investment has multiplier effects which engender long-term economic growth and increase in the standard of living. William said economic growth and development are dependent upon the quality of nation’s human resource and as such the sector has to be given the priority it deserves. According to him, any country that desires to enhance and accelerate its development process must take capacity building seriously, and execute it in a sustained, deliberate, and comprehensive way, the Heritage newspaper reads.

Related Caption:LIPA Urged To Extend Operations To Other Counties(FOCUS)

 
JFK Requested to Transition In 90 Days; Senate Goes on Constituency Break until 2017
 
The Senate has requested the Minister of Health and Members of the Board of Directors of the John F. Kennedy Hospital (JFK), to fully implement in 90 days, the recently passed amended JFK Law, which among other things, calls for new leadership at that referral hospital. The Senate decision which came through a motion by Nimba County Senator Thomas S. Grupee, Chair of the Committee on Internal Affairs, Governance and Reconciliation, also requested the Peter Coleman-chaired committee on Health, Gender, and Social Welfare, to arrange and carry out a tour of the facilities of the JFK, which according to Minister Dahn, is currently undergoing major renovations at the cost of US$30 million. The latest decision by the Senate that brought Minister Dahn and her board to the Senate, was based on a communication from Montserrado County Senator Geraldine Doe-Sherif, in which she recounted the difficulties financially depressed ordinary citizens go through at the JFK to get services such as laboratory analyses, which she said sometimes takes a week. Senator Doe-Sherif’s concerns were buttressed by Grand Kru County Senator and Chairman on Health Committee Peter Coleman, who warned that pressure must be brought to bear on the Chairman of the board who happens to be the Minister of Health, to ensure that the amended JFK law that was passed, is implemented. Meanwhile, the Senate has closed for its annual constituency break, and will return in the second week of January, 2017, reports the Daily Observer.
 
13 Retired from Commerce Ministry
 
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) over the weekend retired 13 employees, who served the Ministry in various capacities over the years. Each of the retirees received packages in line with the Ministry’s regulations and the Civil Service Agency (CSA) Pension Law. The retired personnel included Augustus Cammu, Roosevelt Gbormie, Ignitius Nyenkan, Alice Nyenkan, Donoe Robert, Lewis Gibson, Boakai Sirleaf, Samuel Liberty and Aaron Willie. Others were Moses Q. Williams, Stephen Zaizay, and Henrique Harvey. Frantz C. Sawyer, Acting Commerce Minister and Deputy Minister for Administration, lauded the retirees for their long years of ‘distinguished services.’ He assured the retirees that the ministry’s doors will be always opened to them because some of the new employees will be looking to them for their individual and collective expertise, reports the Daily Observer. 
 
 
ALJA: ‘Prof. Wolo Used Creativity To Unify Liberians’
 

 

The President of the Association of Liberian Journalists in Americas (ALJA), Mr. Moses Sandy said in a tribute at a memorial service on October 1 at the Devine Mercy Catholic Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, for fallen Liberia media practitioner, Professor James Kpateh Wolo, was a man who used his creativity to unify Liberians.  Mr. Sandy narrated to the gathering of former Liberian journalists, how in the 1990s, when the civil-war raged and hope was dim, Prof. Wolo, using a platform through the Liberia Broadcasting System (LBS), gave positive thoughts that gave encouragement and hope to Liberians that all was not lost. Mr. Sandy said, “We, like the Wolo family and the families of other deceased journalists, are distraught, but we take consolation in the immeasurable contributions Mr. Wolo and the others who predeceased him made for the betterment of our native Liberia. The ALJA president told the gathering of mourners that the Liberian society has lost a towering development communicator and an erudite writer; and that Prof. Wolo, like his colleagues who recently predeceased him, including Oscar Dolo, Togar Lawrence Randall and Mamadee Diakite, helped bridge the communication gap in Liberia. “They played meaningful roles in shaping the Liberian political landscape. By Liberian standards, the late Wolo was an accomplished journalist, writer, administrator, and professor. He reached the pinnacle of his journalism career,” Sandy noted. Prof. Wolo died on September 9 at the JFK Medical Center after a brief illness, according to the Daily Observer.
 

Related Caption:ALJA Holds Memorial For Late Professor James Kpateh Wolo(FrontPage Africa)

 
 
 

Tackling Inequality Vital to Ending Extreme Poverty by 2030

According to the FrontPage Africa newspaper, anew World Bank study on poverty and shared prosperity says that extreme poverty worldwide continues to fall despite the lethargic state of the global economy. But it warns that given projected growth trends, reducing high inequality may be a necessary component to reaching the world’s goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030. In 60 out of the 83 countries covered by the new report to track shared prosperity, average incomes went up for people living in the bottom 40 percent of their countries between 2008 and 2013, despite the financial crisis. Importantly, these countries represent 67 percent of the world’s population.   “It’s remarkable that countries have continued to reduce poverty and boost shared prosperity at a time when the global economy is underperforming—but still far too many people live with far too little,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. The message is clear: to end poverty, we must make growth work for the poorest, and one of the surest ways to do that is to reduce high inequality, especially in those countries where many poor people live.”  

 

WB Prexy Wants Inequality Cut to End Poverty

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim has said “unless countries can resume faster global growth and reduce inequality, the world risks missing the World Bank target of ending extreme poverty 2030.” It’s remarkable that countries have continued to reduce poverty and boost shared prosperity at a time when the global economy is underperforming,” the bank’s release issued in Washington Monday quotes him as saying. He observed that “too many people still live with far too little,” stating, “The message is clear that to end poverty, we must make growth work for the poorest, and one of the surest ways to do that is to reduce high inequality, especially in those countries where many poor people live.”, the Insight says.

 

Liberia Passes Gola Forest Act

In an effort to reduce greenhouse emission through sustainable forest management, Liberia has taken another step enacting into law the Gola Forest National Park in North-Western Liberia. the Act, establishing the Gola Forest National Park, was passed September 23, 2016, after the Liberian Senate concurred with the House of Representatives that earlier passed the then bill in September 2015. The entire landscape of the newly enacted Gola Forest land situated between Grand Cape Mount and Gbarpolu Counties. The Act is expected to be forwarded to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for approval and subsequent printing into hand bill for circulation, the Insight newspaper reads.

Pres. Sirleaf to Dedicate Boulevard Palace

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is expected to formally dedicate the business facility of Hotel Boulevard, located on 13th Street in Sinkor, Monrovia for full scale operation to Liberians and foreigners to transact unhindered business activities in the country. The program, which will be held on Wednesday, October 5, 2016, will also include high profile government officials, distinguished personalities who are expected to arrive at 6:00pm, stressing that protocol demands that no one will be allowed to enter the stipulated time, the In Profile reads.

 

Several Students Benefit from CSEP

An inside story of the Focus newspaper reads that students in Gardnersville, Bardnersville, Kebbah and surrounded communities have benefited from the distribution of copy Books, pencils and other schools related materials. The assorted school provisions were donated under the auspices of Rhema Temple, a local church on Bardnersville Road under the Tree Community. According to Apostle Oliver Chukwugbogu, Pastor of the Church, the distribution was the church’s own initiative of empowering students in the community whose parents cannot afford to meet up with their needs and other educational requirements. He said besides the distribution of school materials, the Church has provided scholarships to several students under its Community School Empowerment Program (CSEP), the Focus says.

 

 

 

 

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