THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Monrovia, Liberia

NEWS SUMMARY FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2016

Today’s media summary includes stories on the relaxing of the new clearing procedures at the Free Port of Monrovia, the lighting of the Christmas Tree on the Executive Mansion grounds by Vice President Joseph N. Boakai, the launch of the first forest atlas in Liberia, and the unveiling of  the Ministry of Transport’s regional office in Bong County, among other.

NEW CLEARING PROCEDURES RELAXED AT FREE PORT

According to the New Dawnnewspaper, the Government of Liberia, through its Inter-agency Trade Facilitation Committee, has with immediate effect relaxed its new detailed custom clearing procedures at the Free Port of Monrovia for importers until after the Christmas season. According to a Ministry of Finance and Development Planning or MFDP release issued in Monrovia on 17 December, the decision was reached at the Inter-agency Trade Facilitation Committee (TFC) meeting held with importers at the Head offices of the National Port Authority (NPA) recently. The committee, comprising the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning (MFDP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), and the National Port Authority (NPA), took the decision to find an amicable solution to protesting importers especially members of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs). At the meeting, members of the SMEs through the Liberian Chamber of Commerce and the Liberia Custom Broker Association said the reason for the protest was as a result of the excessive examination of imported commodities which has resulted in extra taxation for their respective businesses and prolonged delays in clearing of their imports. This decision by the LRA was due to the constant infusion of fake invoices within the clearing process and intentional gross under-declaration of values by some importers or custom brokers.

Related Captions: Gov’t Relaxes Procedures On Clearing Goods At NPA(Inquirer), New Clearing Procedures Temporarily Relaxed At NPA(In Profile Daily), and Government Temporarily Releases New Clearing Procedure…At Free Port of Monrovia for The Festive Season(FOCUS), New Clearing Procedures relaxed at Free Port(Insight)  

VP BOAKAI LIGHTS UP CHRISTMAS TREE 

Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai has switched on the Christmas Tree at the Executive Mansion marking the official commencement of the celebration of the festive holidays with a call on Liberians to reach out to someone. He extolled everyone, especially those who after attending the commissioning ceremony of the Mount Coffee Hydropower plant in Harrisburg, still found sufficient time and strength to attend the ceremony. He then wished every Liberian a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year, assertsDaily Observer.

Related Caption: Reach Out To Someone…Boakai Urges Liberians, Lights Christmas Tree(Inquirer) Vice President Boakai Lights Christmas Tree calls on Liberians to Celebrate, reach out someone(Insight)

NEC To Launch Civic, Voter Education Tomorrow

The National Elections Commission (NEC) will launch its civic and voter education exercises tomorrow, Tuesday, December 20. The launch is expected to take place simultaneously in all 15 counties as part of preparations leading to the October 10, 2017 representative and presidential elections. In a press release signed by NEC’s acting director of communications, Joseph Nyesuah, the NEC said the occasion is intended to raise Voter Registration Awareness and encourage all eligible citizens age 18 and above to register from February 1 through March 7, 2017. Meanwhile, NEC’s Chairman, Cllr. Jerome G. Korkoya, and his deputies Cllrs. Sarah Jegeda Toe and Jeanette Ebba Davidson, have returned to the country after observing Ghana’s elections. Cllr. Korkoya and his colleagues, while in Ghana, closely worked with monitoring teams from the African Union (AU), National Democratic Institute and ECOWAS. The NEC’s delegation to Accra expressed satisfaction with Ghana’s peaceful conduct of its presidential and parliamentary elections, reports the Daily Observer.

Related Caption: NEC Begins Voter Education Awareness Tomorrow(Inquirer)

Sinkor Streets Taking New Shape

After several years of being in deplorable condition, the streets and avenues of Sinkor are now taking on a new look. The Sinkor avenues are among several infrastructures that got damaged as a result of lack of attention due to the Liberian civil war. Sinkor is one of Monrovia’s best residential areas and is fast becoming that host for top businesses including the newly accredited 5-Star Boulevard and Royal Hotel, an IT hub, fashion houses and restaurants. The Monrovia best layout community has been among several communities suffering from bad road since the inception of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Government. The streets of Sinkor were contracted by the Government of Liberia to the Liberian-owned West Africa Construction company as sisterly as sister company to SSF in 2012, reports theInquirer newspaper.

Related Caption: Global Community Makes Record $75 Billion Commitment To End Extreme Poverty(In Profile Daily)

OTHER STORIES  

First Forest Atlas For Liberia Launched 

The international resource organization, World Resource Institute (WRI) and the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), recently launched the first Forest Atlas for Liberia to promote sustainable forest management and land administration. The official launch, which was held at a resort in Monrovia, will serve as a conduit where conservationists and other civil society organizations will be able to receive updates regarding the forest and land sectors in the context of forest cover loss, forest cover gain and the number of concessions and their total land areas.

During the launch, several facilitators from various conservation and environmental organizations were selected by WRI and the FDA to make presentations on the forest sector and the importance of an atlas to conservation in Liberia. Deputy Foreign Minister for International Corporation Dehpue Zuo, on behalf of the government, welcomed the launch of the country’s first forest atlas, describing it as a very useful tool that can be used in determining from time to time, the status of the country’s forest sector, reports Daily Observer.

Sweden Gives US$3.2M To Improve LNP Service Delivery

According to the Daily Observer, the Government of Liberia (GoL) and the Swedish Government have signed a US$3.2 million cooperation agreement to build the capacity of officers of the Liberian National Police (LNP) to fight crime and improve service delivery. The signing ceremony took place on Friday at the Zone Six Police Station in Brewerville, outside Monrovia. During the signing ceremony on Friday at the Zone Six Police Detail in Brewerville, outside Monrovia, Ambassador Lena Nordström said the project will also attend to basic crime investigation, crime scene investigation with a specific focus on crimes related to sexual and gender-based violence, and increase collaboration between the LNP and the Prosecution Service.

Ministry of Transport Regional Office in Bong County Unveiled

The decentralization process of Liberia is becoming more manifest as the Ministry of Transport over the weekend opened and officially dedicated its regional office along the Gbarnga-Lofa highway in Bong County. “This is a sign of relief to the people to see the opening of the service center in Bong County, because they won’t have to go through the hardship of driving all the way to Monrovia to get their driver’s licenses and do their vehicle registration,” said the county’s Superintendent, Selena Polson Mappy. “We must say thank you to your predecessor, Mr. Minister, because she was the brain behind the opening of the service centers in Bong County and the inclusion of the Ministry of Transport into the County service center, so let me say thanks to her and to the Ministry of Transport family that today the citizens of Bong County will be breathing the fresh air of relief,” Supt. Mappy added. The dedication of a regional office depicts transport’s presence in Bong County and it will strengthen the commitment of taking the transport services provided by government to the people, reports FrontPage Africa newspaper.  

Public Eager For Cheap Hydro Power 

Liberians can’t wait to see their homes and business lighted, not just with any kind of electricity but reliable and cheap electricity—and fortunately the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) is ready to do just that, after decades of humiliating darkness. On the heels of the dedication of the ever anticipated Mt. Coffee Hydropower plant by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Thursday, Board Chair of the LEC, Ian Yhap declared that Liberians’ time of living in darkness has finally come to an end. Mr. Yhap noted that the LEC is in full readiness for the distribution of power across the country, though Monrovia and its immediate environs, where majority of the country’s main economic activities take place, would be given first priority. Chairman Yhap made the remarks on Thursday at the commissioning of the first 22 megawatts at the Mount Coffee Hydroelectric Plant held in White Plain outside Monrovia, writes Daily Observer.  

West African Leaders Press Gambia’s Jammeh To Accept Defeat 

According to the Daily Observer West African leaders are continuing to push for Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh to accept his defeat in the December 1 elections, the BBC has reported. According to BBC, 11 West African heads of state met Saturday in Abuja, Nigeria, for the 50^th summit of the West African community bloc known as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to call for a speedy resolution of the political impasse in Gambia. ECOWAs Chairperson and Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said delegates needed to to recommend measures to conclude the matter before January 19, 2017.

Amb. Noh Kye-Duk to Lecture on The Korean Peninsula At UL

The Korean Ambassador to Liberia, Noh Kye-Duk, will give a lecture on the long-standing dispute over the Korean Peninsula that has subsisted between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic Republic of North Korea. It will take place in the auditorium of the University of Liberia (UL) on Capitol Hill in Monrovia, starting today, Monday, December 19 at 4 p.m., a release from the university has said. The Korean Peninsula is a fault-line that separates the two Koreas. Until the end of World War II, Korea was a single political entity whose territory somehow coincided with the Korean Peninsula. Since the Armistice Agreement ended the Korean War in 1953, the northern division of the peninsula has been governed by the People’s Republic of Korea, while the southern portion has been governed by the Republic of Korea, reports the Daily Observer.

Community Dwellers Avert Armed Robbery

TheInquirer newspaper reports that the watchful eyes of some members of the Bong Mines Community averted an armed robbery from taking place in the home of the Spiritual Mother of the United Pentecostal Church, Vivian Bleedee. However, the would-be victim, Mother Bleedee, later pleaded with the community members who were attempting to mob the said robber to death. According to residents, who trooped in their numbers carrying deadly weapons, said on several occasion, robbers have terrified their community at night and made away with their belongings including cash. The residents, who were eyewitnesses informed this paper that about 2 a.m. on Friday, December 16, the alleged armed robber attempted to enter the United Pentecostal Church.

‘Compelling Need To Improve PFM Reform

According to the In Profile Daily, Deputy Minister for Budget at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Tenneh Brunson, said despite major achievements in the implementation of the Public Financial Management (PFM) reforms over the past four years, there is still a compelling need for improvement. Deputy Minister Brunson made the statement last Friday when she proxied for Finance Minister Boima Kamara, at the start of a two-day PFM Reform Strategy  and Action Plan Stakeholders’ Validation Conference at the Cape Hotel In Monrovia.  

Former Ambassador Greenfield Embraces Power Access 

According to the In Profile Daily, the former US Ambassador to Liberia, now Assistant Secretary of States for African Affairs, Linda Thomas Greenfield, has commended the Liberian Government for her commitment of expanding access to reliable electricity for the people of Liberia and for their continued strong partnership with United States. She made the statement recently in Montserrado, noting, “When I think back to my time as the Ambassador to Liberia, I remember seeing young kids studying outside under streetlight.”

MOH Confirms 252 Cases Of Measles

According to the In Profile Daily, the Ministry of Health has confirmed that 252 children in six counties have contract measles in Liberia. Speaking at the regular press briefing of the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism in Monrovia, Adolphus S. Clarke, the National Program Manager for Expanded Immunization Program at MoH, said 252 children have been confirmed to have Measles, while one person has been confirmed dead. He noted that Nimba, Bong, Grand Bassa, Margibi and other counties are confirmed to be affected with the disease, disclosing that the disease has caught children from 9 months to 23 months.

GoL Validates New Economic Strategy for Four Years

The Government of Liberia says it has validate new strategy that will come these areas, some of which significant improvements have been made, but still needs to be addressed. The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Boima Kamara said the first areas is to improve budget credibility and comprehensiveness, by strengthening the institutional capacities for preparing medium-term revenue and expenditure (recurrent and capital) estimates and bringing all donor financing onto the budget. Secondly, Minister Kamara said as strengthening domestic resources mobilization as there continues to be very clear challenges to sustaining domestic resources generation in Liberian; and said these challenges are not unique to Liberia, reports the FOCUS newspaper.  

LNP Vows To Partner With Media For Successful Elections…LNP Spokesperson, asserts 

The Spokesperson of the Liberia National Police (LNP) has disclosed that the LNP will actively partner with the media in 2017 for a successful Presidential and Legislative Elective in the country. Mr. Sam Collins emphasized to newsmen that the LNP is not in the business of intimidating the media or peaceful citizens in the discharge of their duties. The Police Spokesman is at the same time calling on media institutions, individual journalists and the public to make use of the Freedom of Information Law to acquire updates from  the police when the need arises, reports the FOCUS newspaper.  

Liberia’s Maternal, New Born Indicators Gradually Improving 

According to the FOCUS newspaper, maternal and new born indicators are gradually improving with an increase in institutional deliveries from 43.8 percent to 47.6 percent, according to a report. The health indicators showing increase of 3.8 percent in 2016 were contained in the Ministry of Health annual health sector performance report released recently.  Although there is an increase in the national indicator, there are variations in county and regions, according to the report.

West Africa Youth Camp 2016 Ends in Monrovia

Liberia played host to over 250 youth from West Africa in the just-ended West Africa Youth Camp held at the Monrovia Vocational Training Center (MVTC) in Monrovia. The camp was held from December 12 to 16 of December, 2016. The event was organized by The Federation of Liberian Youth (FLY) with sponsorship from the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The event, which was held for the first time in Liberia, is a component of the Africa Youth Conference on Democracy and Good Governance. The four-day event enables young African leaders to take the lead in the implementation of “Agenda 2063.” It was intended to encourage young people to actively get involved in entrepreneurship, the Insight newspaper reads.

LNRCS Trains 1,250 Law Enforcement Officers in First Aid

Nearly 1,250 Liberian law enforcement and fire service officials have been trained in basic first aid this year with the help of the Liberian Red Cross Society (LNRCS) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The first aid courses underscored the need for an immediate medical response to injuries sustained in emergencies. The trainings provided new skills and increased confidence of participants to prevent or manage life-saving emergencies. “First aid is particularly important as an initial response in providing effective and swift care that can reduce injury and improve chances of survival,” said Julien Lerisson, ICRC Head of Delegation in Liberia, the Insight says.