THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia.

NEWS SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2014

Today’s dominant stories on the newsstand include the UN Secretary General’s visit to Liberia, Liberia’s Special Senatorial election, the ECOWAS Observer team’s visit to Liberia for the senatorial elections and the signing of the construction of Fish Town – Harper road between the Governments of Liberia and China.

Other stories selected for today’s summary also include the Government of Liberia’s quest for more investment in the housing sector, the commencement in the exportation of wood for furniture making by Firestone as well as the Defense Minister’s appreciation to the US Government for support.

DOMINANT STORIES

'I Personally Pledge to Help Liberia in This Time of Need'

The United Nations Secretary General says the world body is committed to standing with Liberia in the face of the threat against the Ebola virus disease. "We will be with you until this outbreak is under control and the country has recovered," he said. According to an Executive Mansion release, Mr. Ban Ki-moon made the statement during a joint press stakeout with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the foyer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following a meeting. Mr. Ban, at the head of an 18-member delegation, was in Liberia on the first-leg of a visit to the three worst affected Ebola countries. "I'm here to demonstrate our strong partnership, solidarity and assurance of support for the people and government of Liberia in addressing this Ebola outbreak," the UN Secretary General emphasized. Mr. Ban expressed cautious optimism that this terrible disease will be defeated considering the fact that the virus is slowing down in Liberia, and paid tribute to the dedication and commitment of all Liberians. "I appeal to all stakeholders to work together to preserve Liberia's hard won peace," he urged. Commenting on the Special Senatorial Elections, the third since the end of the civil war, the UN Secretary General said these elections will give Liberians an opportunity to show the world how far they've come; urging all Liberians to ensure that these elections are peaceful and at the same time follow the public health guidelines to protect themselves against Ebola. Earlier, President Sirleaf, on behalf of the Liberian people, welcomed Mr. Ban and his delegation to the country. He first visited here in March 2013. She recognized the global leadership Mr. Ban has exhibited since his tenure as UN Secretary General especially that leadership role at the onset of the Ebola crisis, its effect on Liberia and how he brought the global leadership together to respond in such a manner that today the country has made remarkable success. President Sirleaf also recognized the presence of the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Margaret Chan, a part of the UN Secretary-General's delegation, and how she has worked with the Liberian Government in bringing the quick response that the country needed, reports the Daily Observer newspaper

Related Captions:‘I Personally Pledge To Help Liberia In This Time Of Need’… BAN Ki-moon pledges during visit to Liberia (Insight),Liberia Wins… ‘We Will Stand By You – BAN Ki-moon Asserts’ (Parrot),Ellen Gets BAN Ki-moon’s Commendation For Ebola Fight ( The Report),UN Boss Pledges More (In Profile Daily), and“We’ll Stand By Liberia”…UN Chief (The News)

Related Story: UN Demands Robust Contact Tracing To Kick Ebola Out

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, has urged that the “promising result” that is seen in Liberia in the Ebola fight “must be shown regionally to avoid … retransmission” of the virus. In a press stake-out with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Monrovia Friday, December 19, Mr. Ki-Moon called for more robust contact tracing because the number of cases was still high, except for Liberia which he said has a “bit slow” cases.  The UN chief described as tremendous, the working relationship of the international community with the affected countries, and stressed the need to re-establish basic social services, including health and economic activities. Prior to the Press Stake-out with President Sirleaf on Friday, Mr. Ki-Moon held meetings with officials of the Liberian government, national and international partners, and civil society organizations battling against the Ebola outbreak here. He reminded the Government and its people that the UN has stood with the country in its challenging times before and it was committed to standing with Liberia now in the war against Ebola. “We will be with you until the outbreak is under control and the country has recovered,” he pledged, as he expressed confidence that the terrible outbreak can be defeated. Above all he paid tribute to the “dedication and commitment” of Liberians, saying “our response strategy is working.” He pledged the UN’s readiness to help the Liberian government in this regard, and further appealed to the international community to “stay engaged.” Earlier, President Sirleaf praised Mr. Ki-Moon’s leadership that she said recognized the Ebola epidemic and its effect on Liberia, and how his response against the outbreak has enabled such a success in Liberia today. The Liberian leader recognized the Secretary General’s global leadership exhibited over the years, recalling that Mr. Ki-Moon did come to Liberia on a very short stay in March 2013, New Dawn reports.

Related Caption: Ban Ki-Moon: Ebola Must Be Everyone’s Goal (New Democrat), and UN’s BAN Urges End To Discrimination Against Ebola Workers(FrontPage Africa)

Election Monitoring Group Hails Saturday’s Polling…Says Voting Was Very Calm, Orderly And Peaceful

“The ECC considers the Special Senatorial Election to be peaceful, free, fair, credible and there were some administrative lapses and isolated cases of irregularities. We commend NEC for conducting such an election. “The ECC deployed over 2,000 observers across the country to observe the election. The ECC observed that certain polling stations did not open at8:00AM as required by the Elections Law. This was particularly so in some places in Montserrado, Gardnerville Town hall – Henri W. Dennis Methodist School in Topoe Village, Paynesville Town Hall, Maryland County – Pleebo and Grand Kru, Inquirer reports.

Related Caption:ECOWAS Election Monitors Declare Election Free, Fair And Transparent(FrontPage Africa)

Ecowas Team Outlines Observations On Senatorial Election

The ECOWAS Observer Mission in Liberia for the just-ended senatorial election has outlined some challenges it observed during the conduct of the election. Among the challenges encountered on Election Day, ECOWAS Mission headed by Leopold A. J. Ouedraogo indicated that there was an absence of adequate logistics such as suitable tables and chairs for electoral officials in some of the polling centers. Poor lighting arrangements in almost all the polling stations and the absence of a display of registered voters’ lists in some of the polling centers were also some of the drawbacks that characterized the election. The ECOWAS team noted that there was an absence of security officials in a number of voting precincts, particularly in more sensitive areas. With the presence of Ebola still felt in Liberia, the observer team also noticed that there was noncompliance with health protocol relating to prevention of the EVD in some polling centers. The report further indicated that some of the polling centers delayed in starting the voting process on schedule due to the absence of logistics. However, the ECOWAS Observer Mission in its report highlighted the “Best practices” it recorded during the voting process.

Among some of the best practices were the easy location of polling stations, adequate guidelines on measures put in place to prevent the spread of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), and voting process conducted meticulously, transparently and professionally by the electoral officials, who demonstrated adequate knowledge of their roles, and in the effective presence of political parties and independent candidates’ agents, reports the Daily Observer.

Commercial Activities Affect Elections Results

Even though the constitution makes elections day a national holiday, business activities went on in several parts of the country during the special senatorial elections on Saturday with potential voters reluctant about abandoning selling and going to the poles. Some petit traders and marketers said they were not interested because “we are tired voting in this countr7y without getting good leaders”, Smith Tellehy a driver of one of the pickups bringing foodstuff from Gbapolu said, New Democrat reports.

Gol, Chinese Company Sign US42.7m Contract

The New Dawn newspaper reports that officials at the Ministry of Public Works have signed a multimillion dollar contract with a Chinese company for the full pavement of Phase-I of the Fish Town-Harper Road Project being jointly funded by the Government of Liberia and the African Development Bank. The China Railway No. 5 Engineering Group Company Limited is to cement paved the 50 kilometer road from Harper City to Karloken in Maryland County. The contract value is a little over 42.7 Million dollars and the actual construction period is 2 years with 1 year of defects liability. During the signing ceremony, newly appointed Public Minister William Gyude Moore admonished the contractor to take into consideration the triplet issues of quality, durability and value for money. He said that the road to be constructed is quite significant in socio-economic development of the country particularly southeastern Liberia and as such the Ministry will ensure that the contractor does quality work; adding that monitoring and supervision will be prioritized at all stages of the project. The Public Works boss also noted that his leadership is indeed cognizant of the challenges ahead and will ensure that there is integrity in the contract awarding process at the Ministry while ensuring the quality of the products that come out of that process. He thanked his predecessors Atty. Samuel Kofi Woods for his leadership and influence on this project and Dr. Weeks and the MPW team for working with the ADB and contractor to bring the project to reality.

Related Caption:Fish Town-Harper Road Project Ready (In Profile Daily), and US$42M Road Project Signed (The News) and Gol, Chinese Company Sign US42.7m Contract (The New Dawn) and Fish Town - Harper Road Pavement To Start Soon (Insight)

OTHER STORIES

House Passes 50 Bill

The House of Representatives adjourned its 3^rd Session Thursday with the passage of a total of 50 bills during the 53^rd National Legislature. Some of the bills passed are the Act Against Criminal Conveyance of Land. Against Criminal conveyance of Land, An Act of Legislature prescribing the National Code of Conduct for public officials and employees of government, rural Communication a and An Act to Amend the New Executive Law of 1972 to0 establish the Ministry Gender and Children and Social Welfare, amongst others, according to the Liberia News Agency. In remarks at the ceremony, Speaker J. Alexander Tyler said the House passed 19 of its own bills, 13 Executive bills, concurred with eight Executive bills and concurred with six senate bills, In Profile Daily reports.

Related Caption:House Passes 50 Bills During 53^rd National Legislature(Insight)

GoL Wants Stakeholders Direct More Investment To Housing Sectors

The Government of Liberia (GoL) through the Finance and Development Planning Minister Amara Konneh has stressed the need for more investment to be directed to the country’s housing sector to afford low-income Liberians the opportunity to own houses. He used the occasion to call on stakeholders to continue what he referred to as the idea that gave3 birth to affordable housing for Liberians through the mortgage. Also speaking, the President of the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI), John Davies, III said 180 Liberians have already benefited from the US$10 million seed mortgage fund provided by the Central Band of Liberia (CBL), The Reporter writes.

Related Caption:Konneh Urges Stakeholders To Direct More Investment To Housing Sector(In Profile Daily)

Firestone Begins Exporting Wood For Furniture Making

The Insight newspaper reports that the Production Manager of the Firestone Rubber Plantation Company in Lower Margibi County, Richard Fallah, has disclosed that the company has begun exporting its words for furniture making. Speaking to reporters Thursday at the official launch of the Made -in- Liberia Trade Store at the Nancy Doe Market in Sinkor, Mr. Fallah said the Firestone timber meets international standard for any furniture making.

Related Caption:Firestone Begins Exporting Wood For Furniture Making(In Profile Daily)

Local Banks Get $7.5 Loan

According to the New Dawn newspaper, World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim says a $7.5 million dollars loan has been signed to support small and medium-size enterprises, local entrepreneurs and farmers in Liberia. In a Press Stake-Out with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Monrovia at the climax of his one day visit here on Tuesday, December 2, 2014, Dr. Kim also said the World Bank’s second area of support here is agriculture, which he said is “a key pillar of the Liberian economy.” On Tuesday, the World Bank chief said the IFC’s executive Vice President Jin-Yong Cai was to sign a $7.5 million loan to Ecobank on the same day, promising that the World Bank would continue to work through the IFC to provide liquidity to local banks, farmers and other small businesses in Liberia. After meeting with President Johnson-Sirleaf at her Ministry of Foreign Affairs office, Dr. Kim said the World Bank was concerned that agricultural production here has dropped as a result of the Ebola epidemic, and the bank would help Liberian farmers recover from the crisis. Warning that “We must make sure that the Ebola epidemic is not followed by a food security crisis” here, Dr. Kim stressed that “we don’t need to wait till we get to zero to start working on the economic recovery.” Already, he said $200 million dollars has been provided to Liberia for the Ebola crisis, and the bank will continue to support President Sirleaf’s “ambitious plan to get to zero cases as soon as possible.”

New Oil and Gas Law Finalized

Following a year of consultation with stakeholder, the Third Session of the 53rd Legislature has passed t new oil and gas laws, including the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) , Act 2013. Plenary reached the decision Thursday, December 18, 2014 during the 30th and final sitting of the 3rd sitting of the Extraordinary Session. Following the passage of the two Acts by the Lower Chambers, the Liberian Senate did not hesitate to concur with the House of Representatives. The passage of t Exploration Petroleum Law and the NOCAL Act of 2013 follows several months of consultations with citizens and stakeholders across the country, with the final validation phase concluding at the Monrovia City Hall a fortnight ago, reports the Insight newspaper.

Defense Minister Appreciates U.S. Support

Liberia’s Defense Minister, Brownie J. Samukai, Jr., has expressed appreciation to the United States Government for its support to ebola affedcted countries in the region. He particularly praised the leadership role being demonstrated by the U.S. Government which according to the Defense Minister signifies that Liberia it not alone the fight against the Ebola Virus Diseqase, In Profile Daily reports.

Related Caption:Samukai Lauds US Support(New Democrat)and Defense Minister Appreciate U.S Support (The Inquirer)