BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

CAPITOL HILL, MONROVIA

NEWS SUMMARY, Wednesday , OCTOBER 23, 2019

Today’s edition of our daily summary captures stories about  the Ministry of Public to resuming the upgrading of community roads;  Liberia Signing of the  ‘Cape Town Agreement’  and Committed itself to full compliance of international fisheries protocols as well as President George Weah to get honorary tile from Liberia football association today.

Other stories include news about Liberia’ Ambassador to Italy Amb. Kronyanh Presenting Credentials to FAO Director General as he hails the organization’s support to Liberia among other stories.

DOMINANT STORIES  

PRESIDENT TO GET HONORARY TILE FROM FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION TODAY 

The Chief Patron of Sport in Liberia, President George Weah, is expected today Wednesday, October 24 to be named “Honorary President” of Liberia Football Association by President Mustapha Raji. Addressing a news conference Tuesday, October 22, at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium, LFA Vice President for Operations, Wilmot F. Smith, said the Liberian leader paid his due to football in Liberia and is the right time for the LFA to honor a man that put Liberian on the football map of the world. The ceremony according to Smith will form part of the Football house’s maiden edition of the George Manneh Weah President’s Cup which will kick-off today October 23, 2019, at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Central Monrovia  with 20 teams from the first, second, third and female divisions of Liberian football participating. “ Few months ago, the number 14 was retired by the Liberian Football  Association President Mustapha I. Raji and tomorrow a Jersey conferring the honorary presidency status

on the Chif Patron of Sports, President Weah, will be president to him by Raji as the ‘Honorary President’ of Liberia Football  Association,” the LFA VPO told reporters.  “Executive Committee has agreed that this President Cup will be the maiden edition of the George Manneh Weah cup in recognition of the torchbearer of Liberia’s golden football generation and the Chief Patron of Sports, President George M. Weah, pens the FrontPage Africa.

Related Caption:President Cup Begins Today! (The Inquirer)

MPW To Begin Bushrod Island Road Overlay Early November                                                           The Ministry of Public works(MPW) has disclosed that it will begin upgrading the Bushrod Island road early November. The overlay will run from the Gabriel Tucker Bridge to the st Paul River Bridge to help reduce traffic congestion along the route. Speaking in an interview with the Liberia News Agency (LINA) recently at MPW office on Lynch street, Monrovia, Public Works Minister Mobutu V. Nyeapan states that the ministry will overlay critical sections of the road as it awaits response from the Japanese government to do the pavement of a new road, pens the Heritage newspaper.

Related Caption:Community Road Projects To Recommence…Minister Nyenpan Discloses (The News)

Liberia Signs ‘Cape Town Agreement’ - Commits To Full Compliance of Int’l Fisheries Protocols                                                                                                                                              

The Liberian government, through the Director General of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA), has signed the Cape Town Agreement, committing to the full implementation of the international fisheries protocols. According to the Heritage newspaper, The Cape Town Agreement, among other things, provides for standards, compliance on the minimum requirements on the design, construction, equipment, and inspection of fishing vessels of 24 meters and above operating on high seas and not the Exclusive Economic Zone. Signing the Cape Town Agreement at the Ministerial conference on fishing vessel safety and Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in Malaga, Spain on Monday, October 21, 2019, c called on all members of the IMO states to consider signing the Cape Town Agreement.

Related Caption: Liberia Signs ‘Cape Town Agreement’ - Commits To Full Compliance Of Int’l Fisheries Protocols   ( the Daily Observer newspaper) “Liberia Signs Cape Town Agreement” (Front Page)

Amb. Kronyanh Presents Credentials to FAO Director General Hails the organization’s support to Liberia.                                                                                                                                          

Andrew W. Kronyanh, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Italy, and Permanent Representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has assured the director general in Rome, Italy of Liberia’s preparedness to join ongoing efforts by the Rome-based United Nations agencies, including FAO, IfAD, and WFP, aimed at addressing issues of hunger and malnutrition in line with meeting, in particular, the Sustainable Development Goal #2 by 2030.Amb. Kronyanh said the critical need for Liberia, as a responsible member of the United Nations to join the FAO, and other United Nations humanitarian agencies to address hunger and malnutrition problem, which is a major agenda item of the UN, pens the Daily Observer newspaper.A Foreign Ministry release quoting a dispatch from its Mission in Italy, Rome says the Liberian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to FAO made the assertion on Wednesday, October 02, 2019 when he presented his Letters of Credence to the Director General of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), His Excellency Dr. Qu  Dongyu in Italy, Rome.  Speaking at the ceremony, AmbassadorKronyanh thanked Director Dongyu for the warm reception accorded him and hailed the organization’s renewed commitment in supporting Liberia’s recovery efforts especially in the area of food security. The Liberian Ambassador also applauded the strong bilateral relationship subsisting between Liberia and China where Director Dongyu himself hailed from, referencing the Chinese technical experience in rice production. 

The FAO Director General, initially informed the Liberian Ambassador about the experience of Chinese in rice production stressing that such experience could be replicated in Liberia’s vast coastal region. He welcomed Ambassador Kornyanh to the FOA Headquarters and congratulated him for his preferment as Liberia’s Permanent Representative to FAO, assuring the Liberian Envoy of the organization’s unflinching support to Liberia, especially in the areas of technical cooperation, knowledge sharing, as well as South-South and triangular cooperation

Related Caption:Amb. Kronyanh Presents Credentials to FAO Director General                                                                Hails the organization’s support to Liberia(Heritagenewspaper)            

Other stories  

MCC, LWSC Break Ground…For US$18M Raw Water Pipeline 

The news Newspaper reported that, the Millennium Challenge Account (MCC) and the Government through the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC) are expected to break grounds for a US$188 million raw water pipeline being built between the dam of the Mt. Coffee Hydropower Plant and the White Plains Water Treatment Plant. The ceremony, which is expected to commence on Friday, November 1, 2019 at the White Plains Water Treatment Plant, will be attended by an array of high level government officials and diplomatic guests.  According to the MCC, the 48-inch pipeline is part of the Energy project under Millennium Challenge Compact and will replace the original 36-inch diameter pipeline that was destroyed during Liberia’s civil war. The new pipeline is approximately five (5) kilometers long and will improve water quality and save the LWSC US$780, 000 a year in electricity costs to pump water to the water treatment plant.

LACE To Pay US$240k…To Household Enterprise Beneficiaries

As it move on smoothly with implementation of the Youth Opportunities Project (YOP), the Liberia Agency for Community Empowerment (LACE) will next week begin the disbursement of US$240,000 to beneficiaries under the Household Enterprise subcomponent of the project. Deputy Executive Director of LACE, Mr. Joseph Williams, has signed the request facilitating the payment which will be made to 800 youth vetted and trained to receive the small business start-up grants. Mr. Williams says he’s upbeat about this opportunity provided the young people intended to make them productive citizens and positive contributors to their communities and country. The news Newspaper says, Of total of 800, each beneficiary will receive USD$300, and placed in a group of 5 to engage into a business venture of their own choosing, attest the News.

LIBERIA’S FIRST DISASTER RISKS REDUCTION STRATEGY NEARS COMPLETTION

Buchanan Technicians from line government ministers and agencies and non-governmental organizations are attending a three-day forum in Buchanan, Grand Bass County to review and finalize Liberia’s first Disaster Risk Reduction Resilience Strategy. The development of the National Disaster Risks Reduction Resilience Strategy of Liberia is a multi-sector collaboration led by the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) with financial and technical support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). A Multi-disciplinary Assessment Team (MAT), composed of about 30 representatives from respective line ministries, agencies, and committees (MACs) was constituted to develop, refine, and undertake broad consultation on the strategy. The team is divided into four technical working groups. “In addition, over 70 participants from diverse range of the over 30 organizations came together to develop key,, inputs to the strategy,  T. Abraham Tumbey, Manager for National Adaption Plans (NAPs) Project at UNDP said, says the Front Page.

Liberia Chairs AU Peace And Security Council For The First Time Ever                                                                                                                             

 Liberia has for the first time chaired the African Union Peace and security Council for the Month of October. According to the Heritage newspaper, Ambassador Robert Y. Lormia 3^rd of Liberia is the first ever to be selected to chair the African Union Peace and Security Council for the month of October 2019 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Peace and Security Council Protocol provides that the chair be held in turn by the 15 member’s states of the Council for one calendar month. At the opening session on October 10,2019, Ambassador Lormia expressed delight that Liberia has finally assumed the Chairmanship of the peace And security Council.

Liberia Bags Int’l Chefs Award In Ghana

The Professional and delicious taste of Liberian dishes was rewarded with an international award at the just-ended west Africa Food Festival held in Ghana. The competition, which Liberia lost narrowly tot the host country with just two-point margin, was heavily contested by five countries, including Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Togo and The Gambia. Speaking recently upon the return of the Chefs delegation to Liberia at the Ministry of Information, the President of the Liberia Professional Chefs Association, Mr . Alex Yamah, stated that the test of the Liberian food couple with the presentation made by the team gave Liberia the second place award, the Heritage newspaper writes.

World Food Prize and World Hunger Fighters Foundation Launch Fellowship for Young African Agribusiness Innovators

 The World Food Prize Foundation and the newly launched World Hunger Fighters Foundation are partnering to provide year-long fellowships for young African food innovators and entrepreneurs. According to a release from the African Development Bank, the World Hunger Fighters Foundation will award annual Borlaug-Adesina Fellowships to young Africans to develop new technologies, champion public policy, and develop viable businesses in the field of agriculture. The young leaders will gain experience in international agriculture research centres, including food and agribusiness companies. Felix Tshisekedi, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a guest speaker at the launch of the foundation in Des Moines, Iowa, said: “Agriculture can be the source of peace in Africa, the Daily Observer newspaper relates. 

2 Liberians Turning Waste Plastics into Bricks                                                                                                        Abraham L. B. Freeman and D. Baccus Roberts appear determined to put their country on the list of nations whose citizens ‘create’ useful products from plastic waste. Both Freeman and Baccus refer to themselves as ‘environmental health and safety advocates’.“I’m encouraging Liberians to limit the use of plastic to save our environment,” Freeman told the Daily Observer in an interview recently at his ‘recycling’ site in Monrovia.”He said people who go to market should use one plastic as often as possible because plastic survives more than five hundred years in the environment and degrades water resources.“People are experiencing flooding in their various communities, because of littering plastic that goes into water resources and clog the drainages, Mr. Freeman said.  

LIONS Club Commits to Long-term Eye Health Program in Buchanan                                                                    

 The Lions Clubs Commissioner on Hunger, serving District 403A2, which comprises Liberia, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone, Lion Cllr. Dickson N. Doe, has assured Liberians of long-term support toward eye treatment sustainability in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County. LION Cllr. Doe, a Liberian, who also served as grant administrator, of a grant proposal approved and received from LIONS Clubs International (LCI), through its arm, the LIONS Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), in the tune of US$400,705.00, led an expansion of a comprehensive eye care services in Buchanan, Grand Bassa, for Grand Bassa, Rivercess and Margibi Counties, the Daily Observer newspaper writes.  

LACC, IRCL End Fight Against Corruption Workshop 

According to the Inquirer news, Liberia Anti- Corruption Commission (LACC) in collaboration with the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia (IRCL) on Thursday October 17, 2019 ended a two-day workshop on the role of the religious community fight against corruption in Bomi County, Tubmanburg. Speaking during the workshop, the Commissioner for Education and Prevention of the LACC, Comm. Aba Hamilton Dolo charged the religious Community to sharpen society minds regarding the effort that corruption brings in a country through their preaching in churches and mosques. She urged the Council to keep up the collaboration with the LACC to carry out the corruption fight and start awareness in communities, churches, home and schools. “Let us all stand up to inequality, change of mindset toward corruption and lift Liberia high”. Also speaking at the program, the Secretary General for the Inter-Religious Council, Mrs. Rebecaa a. Tarpeh-Major said, the reason for the gathering was very important to see how the religious community and institutions can contribute to the fight against corruption which is a serious national concern.