Liberia pleads for companies to return

The Liberian government has appealed to construction companies that left the country at the height of the Ebola crisis to return owing to the “huge decline in the Ebola epidemic.”
The government spokesman, Information Minister Lewis Brown said the companies include Dai Nippon of Japan and Cico of China, all of which applied “force majeure” in early August due to the Ebola epidemic.
Force Majeure exempts contracting parties from fulfilling their contractual duties for causes that are not anticipated or beyond their control, according to the Liberian News Agency.
“It is our duty as a government to ensure that our country is re-built at all levels,” Minister Brown noted at the special Ebola briefing at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) Monday.
Even though Brown did not attach a timeline, he indicated that “the country has to move forward infrastructure wise, and not continue to be in a state of stagnation and decline, as a result of the Ebola epidemic which is gradually becoming history.”
According to him, the “government will continue to rally international support in order to maximize every part of the ensuing dry season to ensure a proper foundation for the prosperity of the country, especially the infrastructural sector.”
Projects stalled by the Ebola epidemic include the Somalia Drive to Red Light, Paynesville Corridor; the Red Light to Gbarnga, Bong County and Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County to Fish Town, River Gee and Harper, Maryland County projects, among others.
Credit: Liberia News Agency