The Civil Society Network of Liberia (CSNL) says its attention has been critically drawn to the on-going hearings by the Liberian Senate, wherein the body tends to hold the authorities of the Ministry of Public Works into contempt on ground that the Liberian Senate was misled that the road lying between ITI to Greenville has made progress toward completion.
According to a release issued by CSNL, “During the hearing, the Liberian Senate rendered the Assistant Minister for Operations’ testament as contemptible on ground that she allegedly lied that the road from ITI to Greenville was 83% complete. Having followed the Senate’s hearing of contempt charges against Public Works Minister, Ruth Coker Collins, and her lieutenants, the Civil Society Network of Liberia wishes to plead with the Liberian Senate to be cognizant of the workings of the Ministry of Public Works under Minster Collins and disengage from pressing contempt charges against the Ministry.”
The group said, “The marvelous accomplishments of the Ministry of Public Works since the ascendancy of Minster Coker-Collins are mammoth, and has brought relief for many Liberians in most counties and communities. We have followed the workings of the Ministry of Public Works under Minster Ruth Coker-Collins that has been very instrumental in ensuring that Liberia’s roads challenges are mitigated and solved.
“The statement of the Assistant Minister for Operations, Madam Kaustella Kialih-Sarsih, is just one of the fallible statements anyone, including members of the Liberian Senate, has and can make as humans. The greater picture is for members of the Liberian Senate not to politicize the road construction and rehabilitation efforts of the Ministry of Public Works. We urge the Honorable Liberian Senate to exercise their oversight role in deriving a timeline between the road contractors and the Ministry of Public Works in the interest of the Liberian people, instead of the politicization of the issue at hand.”
The Civil Society Network of Liberia said it believes that if the Liberian Senate is insistent on its contempt charges against authorities of the Ministry of Public Works the Assistant Minister of Public Works for Operations, Kaustella Kialih-Sarsih, is an appointed official of government, whom the Minster of Public Works does not have any authority to discipline; therefore, it would be un-Constitutional for members of the Liberian Senate to hold Minister Coker-Collins and other officials of the Ministry of Public Works liable for the statement of Assistant Minister Kialih-Sarsih. “If Minister Coker-Collins was to be held liable for her lieutenants, there was no need for the Liberian Senate to allow her lieutenants to make statements apart from her presentation before them. Madam Ruth Coker-Collins has been a sincere and hardworking minister who has showed much passion in implementing the Liberian government’s agenda to make roads pliable for the people of Liberia,” the release stated.
“In conclusion, the Civil Society Network of Liberia calls on members of the Liberian Senate to exercise its robust oversight responsibilities ensuring that authorities responsible to provide funding for roads construction and rehabilitation are current and timely. If the Government of Liberia (GOL) is serious about the construction of roads being its flagship program, the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning must prioritize the payments of road contractors for the speedy implementation of roads works under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Works,” the release continued.