THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia.

NEWS SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2015

President Johnson Sirleaf’s condolence to the Government of the Republic of France for the death of twelve people in a shooting incidence,   the Ministry of Public Works US$5.6 million project intended to start a four lane-road linking the ELWA Junction to the Robert International Air Port (RIA) in Margibi County including the discharge of the 500^th patient from the ELWA 3 Ebola Management Centre are among stories dominating today’s summary of the local dailies.

DOMINANT STORIES

Pres. Sirleaf Consoles France On Recent Shooting Incidence

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has sent a message of condolence to the Government and People of the Republic of France following a horrendous shooting incidence on Wednesday, January 7 2015 at the Charlie Hebdo Satirical Journal office in Paris, killing at least twelve people including Journalists and Police Officers.  In her massage to France’s President François Hollande, President Johnson Sirleaf extended her deepest condolences on behalf of the Government and People of Liberia to the Government and People of France, especially the bereaved families for the irreparable loss sustained.  President Johnson Sirleaf added that France as a nation which was founded on the basic tenets of liberty, equality and fraternity for all peoples regardless of religion, color or social status has, for many years, continued to strive for the promotion of global peace and social justice for all mankind. President Sirleaf therefore   indicated that Liberia as a nation which shares similar values strongly detest what is referred to as France’s deadliest postwar terrorist attack. The Liberian leader stressed her government’s anticipation for the perpetrators to speedily be brought to justice and prayed that the families and loved ones of those affected by the horrific incidence be consoled and granted the fortitude to withstand these difficult times, writes the New Dawn newspaper.

Related Captions: Pres. Sirleaf Consoles France On Recent Shooting Incidence(FOCUS), Ellen Consoles France…On Recent Shooting Incidence(The News), Ellen Consoles France On Recent Shooting Incidence(Heritage), Ellen Consoles France on Recent Shooting Incidence(The Informer)

Public Works Set To Revamp RIA Road, Alleys, Sidewalks To Be Affected

Liberia’s Ministry of Public Works has launched a US$5.6 million project intended to start a four lane-road linking the ELWA Junction to the Robert International Air Port (RIA) in Margibi County. The project under the title, Community Infrastructure Development Project (CIDP) was launched Friday at the Ministry of Public Works in Monrovia. The Project, which will run up to 2017, will include securing the right of way for a four lanes carriage way from ELWA to RIA, opening of alleys and corridors within communities along the road. The project will also see the installation of sidewalks.  Japanese Rice Monetization Program known as the Counterpart value Fund (CVF) is the prime facilitator of the three-year project. Recently the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Public Works  signed a US$50 million ArcelorMittal-funded landmark project with Compagnie Sahilienne D’ Entreprises, a  Senegalese  to construct a fully asphalt paved road from Ganta to Yekepa via Sanniquellie City. The Government also signed a US$42 million contract with a Chinese Company, Hina Railway No. 5 Engineering Group Company Limited Supervising & Monitoring Consultant ) to construct an all-weather asphalt road from Harper City to Karloken Town, which happens to be Phase-I of the Fish Town-Harper Road Project (FTHRP). Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Augustine K. Ngafuan has described the Public Works Ministry as the Ministry of tangibles. He said it is through the Ministry that the Liberian people get to know what the Government is doing infrastructure wise. Minister Ngafuan said his Ministry will continue to attract bilateral and multilateral partnership agreement for the country to foster infrastructure development, reports the INSIGHT newspaper.

Related Captions: ELWA-RIA Four Lane Road Imminent(FOCUS), Public Works Launches Us$5.6m Project(The New Dawn), Community Road Construction Begins(New Democrat), Public Works Launches US$5.6MCIDP (Daily Observer), Gov’t Breaks Ground For ELWA-RIA Highway CIDP(Heritage)

 President Crowns Saah Joseph

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has thanked Montserrado County District # 13 Representative Saah Joseph for his commitment to help eradicate the deadly Ebola virus disease not just from Liberia, but the entire sub-region and expressed government's admiration and appreciation for the work of the First Responders Emergency Medical Services and Representative Joseph in particular. According to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberian leader made the statement when she received the 20-member team of the First Responders Emergency Medical Services Incorporated of Representative Joseph at the Foreign Ministry in Monrovia. They were led to the President’s office by the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) lawmaker himself. Representative Joseph, who ran an emergency ambulance service during the Ebola crisis, informed President Sirleaf that his organization had concluded all arrangements for the deployment of a 20-member response team with three ambulances to aid the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone in support of the Liberian Government’s pledge to assist the people of Sierra Leone in the current fight against the further spread of the deadly Ebola virus disease. She described the news of Liberia’s deployment in Sierra Leone as wonderful and good news that must be celebrated and pointed out that Representative Joseph was one of the first responders on the Ebola frontline. “You were one of the first on the Ebola frontline and faced the virus when a lot of people did not know the disease well and were afraid and confused. She promised government’s support to the team and indicated that Liberia has already deployed a mobile testing lab to Sierra Leone and will send additional healthcare workers from the African Union team currently in Liberia, reports the New Democrat newspaper.

Related Captions: Shinning Among Multitudes Ellen Extols Lawmaker(Daily Observer), Ellen Commends First Responders For Commitment To Eradicate Ebola in Sub-Region(Heritage), Pres. Sirleaf Hails Liberian Ebola Team Move Into S/Leone(FOCUS), Saah Joseph Ebola Team Ready For Sierra Leone(The New Dawn)

500th Ebola Survivor Discharged From ELWA 3

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) have been running the ELWA 3, Ebola Management Centre in Paynesville, outside Monrovia since August, discharged the 500th recovered patient, on Sunday 4 January 2015. The recovered patient, John Mulbah, 33, from Soul Clinic Community was admitted to ELWA 3 on Christmas Eve after contracting the virus from his wife, who he cared for when she was ill. I brought her ORS at the medicine store but her condition did not improve so I called the ambulance and they brought her here to ELWA 3,” says John. “Soon after I began to feel weak and the ambulance came for me”.  MSF has been running ELWA 3, Ebola Treatment Centre in Monrovia since August and a 10 bed transit unit, for suspected Ebola patients at Redemption Hospital since October.  Late in 2014, MSF distributed malaria treatment to over 350,000 Monrovia residents and 50,000 home disinfection kits to households across the capital, according to the News newspaper.

Related Captions: 500th Ebola Survivor Discharged From MSF’s-ELWA 3(FrontPage Africa), 500th Ebola Survivor Discharged From ELWA 3(The New Dawn)

OTHER STORIES

US Remains Steadfast Partner to Liberia

U.S Ambassador Deborah Malac says in addition to helping rebuild Liberia’s healthcare system, America remains a steadfast partner in sectors like education, human rights and sustainable economic development. According to a release, the US envoy said while 2014 was a year defined by challenges, 2015 will be year to continue the momentum of partnership, recovery and achievement, writes the INSIGHT newspaper.

UNMIL Gets New Force Commander

UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on Friday, announced the appointment of Maj.-Gen. Salihu Uba of Nigeria as the Force Commander for the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). Major General Uba will succeed Leonard Muriuki Ngondi of Kenya who will complete his tour of duty on Feb 25, 2015. Maj. Gen. Uba served as the Commander of Training and Doctrine Command, Nigerian Army and the Commandant of the Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Centre from 2013 to 2014, according to the New Democrat newspaper.

AMEU, Nimba College SignMOU …For Dual Degree Program

According to the News newspaper, the African Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU) and Nimba County Community College (NCCC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a dual degree program for students of both institutions. The program intends to address two major issues including overarching problem of Liberia's brain-drain and the need to decentralize socio-economic development especially access to higher education. Speaking over the weekend in Monrovia at the signing ceremony, AMEU President Dr. Joseph T. Isaac said due to complexity and scale of the brain-drain created by the civil war and the current demand for decentralized social services, the program would require integrated solutions to be built around human development. The program will present a unique partnership between the institutions and provide opportunities for students enrolled at NCCC,” the program concept paper noted. In remarks, the President of the Nimba County Community College Dr. Yar D. Gonway-Gono said her institution is pleased with the MOU and hoped it would materialize to benefit the county's youthful population.

DEA Officers Get Training Opportunity

Five officers of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) have been extended training opportunity
expected to be held in Ghana, shortly as effort to prepare them (officers) to undertake the challenges associated with drug-related fight. The United States’ intervention comes in the wake of the passage and subsequent approval of the new anti-drug legislation by the President and National Legislature respectively, which has made Liberia a compliant nation in line with the global fight against dangerous narcotics drug. Making the disclosure during a staff meeting last Thursday in Monrovia, DEA Director-General, Anthony K. Souh praised God for the passage of the drug law and subsequent approval by the President, something he described as “an absolute political will” that will go a long way in protecting the future of the nation from drug driven evils asserts the FOCUS newspaper.

Related Caption: Washington Extends Training Opportunity To Five DEA Officers(In Profile Daily)

Micat Makes New Appointment in National Bureau of Communication

The Ministry of Information, Culture Affairs and Tourism (MICAT), has appointed Mrs. Agatha Thompson as Director of the National Bureau of Communication at the Ministry. In the letter of appointment, Information Minister Lewis G. Brown expressed explicit confidence in Mrs. Thompson's ability to move the bureau forward. The MICAT Boss also urged the appointee to exhibit a level of experience that would help to improve the Communication Bureau. Prior to her appointment, Mrs. Thompson was serving as Assistant Director of Human Resource for Personnel at MICAT, writes the Heritage newspaper.