Liberia and Chinese firm sign deal to build 20-km road

Liberia on Tuesday signed an agreement with a Chinese company for the pavement of 20 kilometers of road in the southeastern part of the country.

The pavement, valued at $15 million, has a duration of about three years. The 20-kilometer road section is part of an agreed regional program between Liberia and the Ivory Coast that aims to pave a total of 67.1 kilometers of road to link Liberia's city of Fish Town with the town of Kelipo in the Ivory Coast.

At the signing, Acting Public Works Minister Ruth Coker Collins called the project historic. Collins said the pavement will help ease the difficulties which the locals experienced daily.

"This is a major road between the two countries. As you may be aware, our people often leave from Fish Town to go to Ivory Coast for goods and other things, so when this section of the road is paved, it will strengthen trade by easing the difficulties our people experienced daily due to bad roads," Collins stressed.

For his part, Nu Tao, acting country manager of China International Construction Company, said his company is fully committed to the proper implementation of the project within the specified time.

"Chinese construction companies have been awarded multiple contracts over the last 10 years to construct roads across Liberia, with most of these roads having been high quality and perfectly done," Minister Collins noted.