President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr. has issued an Executive Order to exempt the Liberia Water & Sewer Corporation (LWSC) from paying custom duties on certain items. According to an Executive Mansion release, this is to ensure that clean and safe drinking water remain affordable and accessible to the public.
The items exempted from custom duties include diesel fuel for operation and production, rotatable and consumable spares for operation, low-lift, and high-lift pumps for use at the water treatment plants, water treatment chemicals and chlorinators, and laboratory apparatus for water treatment facilities at the White Plains Water Treatment Plant and Outstations.
The Executive Order, numbered #127, was issued on Thursday, March 14, 2024. It also exempts heavy-duty equipment, such as water and sewer trucks, asphalt cutters, jackhammers, leak detectors, valves (air relief, surge, and line), presumed sewer cleaners, high-pressure assorted pipes and fittings, flow and water meters, heavy and light-duty vehicles, and generators, from custom duty payment.
This Executive Order takes over from the previousexpired Executive Order (#109), which served a similar purpose. It emphasizes the need for continuous provision and distribution of clean and safe drinking water and the maintenance of an effective sewer system to prevent potential communicable disease outbreak.
The order aims to maintain tariffs at an affordable cost for citizens, as sanitation is a crucial component of the government’s ARREST Agenda, and commitment to sustaining an adequate water supply and controlling the overflow of sewage in the streets of Monrovia and other parts of the country.