The_Open_Door_deel1

-434-
In the domestic oriented sector the two most important and
fastest growing sectors were the Public Sector and the
Construction Sector. The latter gre\t, in current prices, from
$ 15 million in 1973 to $ 63 million in 1979. Its relative
importance doubled in the same period. The large number of
construction activities which were taking place in preparation
for the O.A.U. undoubtedly was the main course for this
growth.
The Public Sector, though increasing at a slower pace, represents
more than 10 percent of G.D.P. which is higher than the
Construction Sector. In current prices the monetary value of
this sector even tripled between 1973 and 1979.
Two opposite trends characterize the Public Sectors (1) a
continuous growth of ministries, government agencies, and
public corporations (both in number and in size), and (2) a
continuous deteriorating performance of the public corporation
sector in particular. The latter is due to a combination
of factors among which dominate (i) lack of financial
means, (ii) lack of qualified management, and (iii) the
absence of clearly defined policies (21).
During the first half of the present century there were only
a handful of ministries (22). Not a single public corporation
existed. Consequently, the number of civil servants was
not high. In 1949 there were 559 civil servants reported.
Thirty years later the number of ministries had increased to
nearly twenty and there were about a dozen government agencies
and 26 public corporations. Not surprisingly, therefore,
the number of Government employees had increased. In 1979 the
number of Government employees reached almost 38»000, or'
roughly speaking nearly one fourth of all permanent employees
in the wage sector. This growth of the civil service is not
without financial consequences and political significance.
Traditionally, the Liberian Government had used its potential
of providing employment opportunities to reward those who had
politically supported its coming to power, to "buy" the
support of those who enabled it to stay in power, and which
in many cases resulted in nepotism. During the Tubman Administration
this caused one author to qualify the running of the
country as a "family-affair" (23). This did not change during
the Tolbert Administration, but it goes beyond the main theme
of' this book to elaborate on this very interesting aspect of
the Americo-Liberian rule of the country.
The financial situation of the public corporations, most of
which were created during the Tolbert Administration, is
alarming. With the exception of three, these government-owned
corporations experienced losses which made it necessary for
the Government to transfer increasing sums of money. The
positive exceptions were the National Port Authority, the
Liberian Produce Marketing Corporation, and the Liberian
Petroleum Refining Company. The latter corporation, created
in 1978 (see above) had in 1979 only been operating for one
year.