By: Nat Bayjay,nbayjay2010@gmail.com (231-77-402737)

The Liberian Maritime Program, the second largest in the world, is one of the country’s most reliable sources of income, especially for a country recovering from the ashes of war. While most of the country’s industries, like the mining, timber and mineral industries, are yet to become fully functional, the Liberian International Shipping Corporate and Registry-managed (LISCR) maritime industry pumped US$16 million into the country’s current budget for the fiscal year of 2009/2010.

The facilities of the Liberia Marine Training Institute (LMTI), once destroyed during the country’s civil war, are now being rehabilitated by the Bureau of Maritime Affairs (BMA) to enable the training and capacity building of Liberia’s future seafarers and marine workers.

Located in the lone coastal township of Marshall, Lower Margibi County, the once-damaged facilities are now being refurbished to international standards. They are now about 97 percent completed with an administrative building, housing dormitories for trainees, several staffing units among several key infrastructures that are definitely restoring the lost beauty that the Liberian civil war robbed off the marine facilities that once served as the Mano River Marine Training Institute.

The facilities are ideally situated along the bank of the Junk River, beautifully overlooking one of the country’s finest tourist sites, which comprises the mouths of several river tributaries as they enter into the Atlantic Ocean. Funding of the renovation of the LMTI facilities are exclusively from the bureau’s own funding. According to the Commissioner of the Bureau of Maritime Affairs, pretty close to US$1 million has been spent on the renovation of the facilities.

Commissioner Biyan Kessely said the training of competent Liberians in the maritime program is one key way of maintaining and improving the industry in a competitive world. He said the training will begin with an initial number of 50 trainees, which will subsequently increase by 50 until a target of 500 trained marine workers is achieved.

As she ended a guided tour of the renovated marine facilities, an impressed President Sirleaf said “Well done!”. “We are as just pleased that we’re starting to renovate these facilities that will enable us prepare some of our people to work on some of the ships around the world, particularly Liberian registered ships”, the Liberian leader said.

The institute, prior to the Liberian Civil War served as a regional marine training institute, which trained citizens of the Mano River Union (MRU) member states. But the institute had, until its recent renovation, been in ruins, thereby leading to the relocation of the MRU institute to Accra, Ghana.

President Sirleaf however said that the training of Liberians is the beginning of the country getting back on course with the maritime program in the sub-region.

“Since we lost the Mano River Training facilities during the years of the war, I think the start is to train our own people first”, she said.