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function it had never been paved by L.M.C. After this company
had closed its gates, in January 1978 the paving of the 38
miles Monrovia - Bomi Hills road was started. Its costs were
estimated at $ 12.5 million and were pre-financed with loans
which the Government had obtained from the African Development
Bank and the Saudi Fund for Development. The A.D.B, participated
also in the Totota - Ganta Highway Improvement Project. This
consisted of the paving of the 85 miles road between these two
cities. The costs, jointly financed by the I.B.R.D. and the
A.D.B., were estimated at some $ 16.3 million.
The road between Clay and Tienne, built during the first phase
of the Five Year Road Maintenance and Development Programme
played an important role in the establishment of a road link with
Sierra Leone. In October 1973 Liberia and Sierra Leone had
created the Mano River Union, a customs union. In February 1976
a bridge across the Mano River was completed. This 580 ft, bridge
cost $ 1,6 million and was financed with an A.D.B. loan. It
reduced the distance between Monrovia and Freetown, Sierra
Leone's capital, from 700 miles to 390 miles. Before the
completion of the bridge all traffic between Monrovia and
Freetown necessarily had to pass through Lofa County, in the
northwestern corner of Liberia, in order to reach the capital of
Sierra Leone. In the light of intra-regional trading activities
the bridge is of great importance.
Despite the large number of activities in the field of road
building and related infrastructural improvements Liberia's
overall road network is still modest and is still inadequate in
view of the country's needs & The heavy concentration of road
transportation facilities in and around the capital is indicative
of the priorities of the country's leading class. The consequent
neglect of the interior of the country is largely responsible for
the lack of economic development in the greater part of the
republic (30), The tribal population of the country, speaking a
"pidgin-English" characteristic of Liberia, soon joked their
misery temporarily away when referring to the O.A.U. as "I.O.U."
- I Owe You. It is not to be denied that a number of projects in
the long run will prove improvements of the country's network of
transportation facilities but it is very questionable whether
all projects executed deserved the priority they received from
the Liberian Government.
Railroad Transport
By December 31, 1977 Liberia had four railroads but the
Government of Liberia did not own any of them. (Under the 1978
Agreement with the Liberia Mining Company the Liberian
Government acquired a specified number of assets of the North
American mining company, among which was the Bomi Hills - Free
Port railroad, including rolling stock and ancillary equipment
see Chapter 7). Each of the four iron ore concessionaires
operating in the country had constructed and operated a