By Wellington Railey

Email: raileywellington@yahoo.com

Google Map photo on Flickr by Juan Freire

The study of the final report of the master plan for Monrovia, which took nearly two years to create, has finally been released. The report aims to address the chronic traffic congestion, low water supply, faulty sewage facilities and reduced drainage function in Monrovia.

The Country Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency said major donors are conducting urgent post-conflict restoration and improvement in several sectors and it is necessary to develop the future plan.

According to the JICA Representative the report lays out short-term and medium-term recovery plans targeted for the years 2014 and 2019, in response to the necessity of full-scale recovery and reconstruction of urban functions.

In addition to the master plan, JICA produced the 1:10,000 scale digital topographic map and ortho-photo of Monrovia and constructed a satellite water supply system during the study.

Mr. Kunihior Yamauchi said in regard to the topographic map, JICA has provided data to the ministry to the Ministry of Public Works and to be used by other agencies and donors in the country.

“JICA conducted the survey on ground water and constructed some wells in communities under the MP study,” he said.

Mr. Yamauchi called on the government of Liberia to maintain the wells in order for the residents of the communities to have safe drinking water. He put the cost of the project at $2 million.

Receiving the Master  plan study on Urban Facilities Restoration Improvement in Monrovia, Deputy Public Works Minister for Administration Johnson Gwaikolo, said due to the 14 year civil conflict most of the infrastructure such as highways throughout Liberia and power generation and distribution have been damaged.

“The living conditions in Monrovia City are rapidly deteriorating as the population compared to that before the civil conflict has increased,” Gwaikolo said. Gwaikolo added that urgent restoration and improvement of the City of Monrovia is required.