Realizing the importance and value for communicating within the communities through radio and television as tools for humanitarian activities, the construction of Ahteenah House, the headquarters of Ahteenah Radio and Television, has formally begun in Barclayville, Grand Kru County.
The construction began on August 1, 2021 and is expected to be formally dedicated in March 2022.
According to Chris Joboe, Resident District Coordinator in the Office of the Deputy Speaker and Grand Kru County’s district #2 Representative, the construction of the Ahteenah House has an estimated timeframe of six months.
Joboe asserted that, though the project will add value to media diversity and infrastructure development to Grand Kru County, it also provides means where local residents will have access to information.
Joboe said he sees the community radio as a pervasive medium and essential part of broadcasting in the geographical landscape of the county.
With the addition of the social media component, Joboe said the radio station will continue to provide diversity for listeners in assuring the people in the communities that they are not alone, as well as strengthen ties and build awareness on common values, challenges and solutions.
The District Coordinator disclosed that a local based construction firm, CR-Construction Company Incorporated (CR-CC Inc.), won the bid for the construction, and the Resident Engineer is Celsius J. Jobo.
Speaking to newsmen, the Resident Engineer, Jobo, said the architectural design of the Ahteenah House will be the embodiment of high-tech, but a simple cutting-edge culture of high public concern.
Besides the radio and television, the Ahteenah House will also be the headquarters of the Ahteenah Development Incorporated (ADI), a privately owned company by Representative Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa.
The ADI, over the years, has been providing scholarships to hundreds of Grand Kru students and students from other counties, as well as provided microloans to market women and supported campaigns against ills in the society, specifically on rape and prevention of diseases (sicknesses).
On his Facebook page, the Deputy Speaker recently wrote, “We bought an ideal parcel of land in Barclayville, Grand Kru County, and broke ground for the construction of Ahteenah House. We have signed the contract with a local construction firm, CR-Construction Company Incorporated (CR-CC Inc.), to build the US$50,000 Ahteenah House to proudly accommodate Ahteenah Radio 102.5FM/TV. We hope to dedicate the green-yellow-and-white building on Liberia’s first President 213th birthday, March 15, 2022.”
Eldred Thomas is the current Station Manager of Ahteenah Radio, with the staff of 12.