PRESIDENT GEORGE MANNEH Weah has begun to look like 20th President Samuel Kanyon Doe in his infrastructure drive, “Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development”. On Wednesday, January 20, 2021, President Weah dedicated the headquarters of the Liberia Petroleum Refinery Corporation (LPRC), the first time the LPRC has had its own headquarters in 40 years. The milestone achievement comes a few months after President Weah dedicated the Administrative Building of the National Port Authority, which he said did not have the benefit of being headquartered in a modern office building since its 75 years of existence. President Doe is historicized for his numerous infrastructural contributions to the nation, perhaps the most remarkable of them the Samuel Kanyan Doe Sports Complex.
THE PRESIDENT’S LANDMARK achievement seeks to move public institutions from private and/or shanty office structures into government-own buildings. President Weah observed at the dedication, “Today we are here once again to witness another important milestone in the history of this country: the dedication of the very first purpose-built administrative building of the LPRC since its establishment more than 40 years ago.”
PRESIDENT WEAH SAID his administration embarked on infrastructural projects such as the LPRC headquarters complex to reshape the development landscape of Liberia, Africa’s oldest country which lacks such facilities. The Liberian Leader asserted that he intends to ensure that every government ministry, agency and public corporation has its own office building in order to curtail exorbitant lease payments to landlords. He said rental fees paid to landlords could otherwise be saved and better utilized to build schools or clinics or other projects, which could better serve Liberians.
“OVER THE LONG term, these rental payments could equal or exceed the cost of constructing our own government buildings,” the President noted. “We have our vision, and we will fulfill our mission. Our vision is fully set out and captured in the ‘Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD)’, and our mission is to fulfill that vision by development.” President Weah vowed that his government would complete the mission of the PAPD by continuing to give priority to infrastructural development.