THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia.

NEWS SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2015

News of President Johnson Sirleaf’s assertion that Liberia remains at risk as long as neighboring Guinea and Sierra Leone have not contained the Ebola epidemic, the National Ebola Task Force, disclosure of Liberia going 10 days with no new Ebola case reported and the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation promise to improve and extend services are stories dominating today’s summary of the local dailies.

DOMINANT STORIES

Ellen - 'Liberia Still At Risk of Ebola Resurgence'

President Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf has noted that Liberia remains at risk as long as neighboring Guinea and Sierra Leone have not contained the Ebola epidemic. "Until the other two affected countries (Guinea and Sierra Leone) have made equal progress we'll continue to be at risk," President Sirleaf told the National Public Radio in an interview Monday on the program Morning Edition. On the reopening of Liberia's borders with the two countries, she observed that "people were moving across the borders anyway, for trading [and] meeting with families," adding: "So we might as well open them, but make sure that we put in place measures that will monitor those movements”. The Chief Executive said Liberians will continue to have fears, but won't be consumed by fear, noting, "We had enough fear in August, in September, in October. We've already overcome those fears by aggressive action to contain the virus”. President Sirleaf spoke to NPR while in the U.S. on a three-day official visit during which she held talks with President Barack Obama, top U.S. officials and heads of non-governmental groups, expressing thanks for American support and partnership in curbing the Ebola Virus, reports the Heritage newspaper.

Related Captions:‘Liberia Still At Risk Of Ebola Resurgence’-President Sirleaf(INSIGHT), ‘Liberia Still At Risk Of Ebola Resurgence’-Pres. Sirleaf(The News), ‘Liberia Still At Risk Of Ebola Resurgence’-Pres. Sirleaf (In Profile Daily)

Liberia 10 Days Free Of Ebola-Health Ministry

The Deputy Incident Manager for Operations of the National Ebola Task Force, Mr. Thomas Nagbe has disclosed that Liberia has gone 10 days free without any Ebola confirmed case. Speaking at the Information Ministry on Monday, Nagbe said the country has gone 10 days out of the 32 more days for the World Health organization (WHO) to declare Liberia Ebola-free. He indicated that the IMC was doing a cross-border initiative to make sure that neighboring Mano River Union countries are Ebola-free because if they were still experiencing new cases, Liberia will be in danger because of the common borders they share. He noted that the Incident Management system put into place three phases to eradicate Ebola from Liberia- the first being to reduce the large Ebola cases from 100 to at least 10 cases per day. After successfully ending the first phase, according to him, the second phase was to have a safe burial and more ETUs in the country, while the third phase is the stage at which the country is presently reaching to zero and remaining at zero, writes the New Dawn newspaper.

Related Captions: Liberians Urged To Target Zero Case Of Ebola-With The Country Covering At Least 10 Days Without A Single Case(INSIGHT), Liberia  Goes 10 Days Without New Ebola Cases(Heritage), 10 Days: No Confirmed Case =As Liberia Progress In Combating Ebola(The Analyst)

Liberian Government Says It's Prioritizing Water in 2015

Liberia's Finance And Development Planning Minister, Amara Konneh has highlighted that the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation has started to prove its ability to deliver on promises while at the same time accounting for funds provided by the government for capital investment projects aimed at delivering what he referred to as a "basic human rights”. Minister Konneh made the assertions at the recently held Presidential State Owned Enterprise (SOE) retreat, where he referred to the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC) as a "stellar SOE performer”. Minister Konneh noted that LWSC was the one SOE, which had significantly raised its asset evaluation, dropped its dependency on government resources by 57 percent, increased its revenue by 150 percent, while significantly making its presence felt. The FrontPage Africa newspaper writes that with much effort and hurdles to cross, the corporation has increased its production capacity, assures a constant supply of water and ensures that a vast and expanding population of the capital has access to its services. With the confidence that has been built, the Liberian government is planning to invest over US$10 million in the water sector for improved and extended services in 2015 alone while an existing grant from the African Development Bank (AFDB), World Bank, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) valued at another US$60 million dollars will further increase water supply not only into Monrovia but to a total of 8 counties by 2016.

Related Captions: GoL To Prioritize Water In 2015(INSIGHT), GoL Prioritize Water In 2015(The Inquirer)

OTHER STORIES

EU Conference On Ebola Affected Countries Begins Today

According to the Daily Observer, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her delegation will today participate in a major conference, organized by the European Union (EU) in Brussels, Belgium to discuss the way forward in the economic and social recovery of countries affected by the deadly Ebola virus. President Sirleaf, according to a statement from the European Union, will serve as a spokesperson on behalf of the three Mano River Union countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.  Presidents and Ministers of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Togo as well as representatives of the African Union Commission, the UN, the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) and the European Union will all be attending. The daily writes that the main focus  of the conference is to maintain current efforts of preventing the spread of the Ebola virus and to also put in place a plan to help Liberia and the other main African countries to recover and also plan for the future.  During the conference, the 11^th European Development Fund National Indicative Program for Liberia 2014-2020 will be signed between Liberia and the EU.   This Fund is allocating EUR 279 million (USD 326 million at current exchange rates) to Liberia, which will be divided into four areas, including Good Governance, Energy, Education and Agriculture.

Related Caption: Ebola Confab In Brussels Today(New Democrat)

ECOWAS Citizens Get 60 Days Ultimatum

The Liberian Government through the Ministry of Labour has announced a 60-day ultimatum to all citizens of the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS residing within the borders of Liberia to obtain an official ECOWAS bio-metric identification card as a matter of compliance. Labour Minister Neto Zarzar Lighe quotes Number 17, Section 2, category B of the Liberian Labour guideline as saying that all ECOWAS citizens residing within the borders of Liberia and seeking employment within the informal sector to pay a work permit fee of US$100.00.  Minister Lighe said the 60 days ultimatum commenced since February 26, 2015 and is expected to end on April 26, 2015. He said the intent is to place the Labour Ministry in a better position on statistics of ECOWAS Citizens working here and also limit them from taking jobs that are statutorily intended for Liberians, reports the New Dawn newspaper.