Liberia - Growth with development - basic economic report (Vol. 6 of 7) : Transport

CIRCULATING'COPY X Report No. 426a-LBR ` AuwED TO EPORTS OESK Liberia WITHIN Growth with Development ONE WEEK a Basic Economic Report (In Seven Volumes) Volume VI: Transport L March 1, 1975 Western Africa Region Not for Public Use Document of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development International Development Association I This report was prepared for official use only by the Bank Group. It may not be published, quoted or cited without Bank Group authcorization. The Bank Group does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the report.  CURRENCY EQUIVALENT The official monetary unit is the Liberian dollar, with a par value equal to that of :the U.S. dollar. Apart from the Liberian dollar, the U.S. dollar is a legal tender in Liberia.  LIBERIA TRANSPORT SYSTEM TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Preface Suzmnary and Conclusions i-iv I. Introduction 1 A. General Background 1 B. Transport Sector Overview 1 C. Policy and Problems 2 D. Planning and Coordination 3 E. Conclusion 3 II. The Highway Subsector 3 A. Characteristics and Growth of Traffic 3 B. Road Infrastructure 5 C. Highway Administration and Maintenance 7 D. Conclusion and Future Direction 11 III. Ports 12 A. General Background and Management 12 B. General Traffic at Individual Ports 12 C. Individual Port Facilities 14 D. Conclusion and Development Strategy 17 IV. Railways 18 A. General Strategy 18 B. Railway Disenclavement Prospects 20 C. Conclusion 21 V. Air Transport 21 A. General Background 21 B. International Air Traffic and Facilities 22 C. Domestic Air Transport 23 D. Conclusion 24 VI. Sector Planning and Coordination 25 Tables   PREFACE The Basic Economic Mission to Liberia did not include specific expertise in the transportation sector. Volume VI of the report has been prepared with a view to presenting the general reader with a description of the structure of the transportation sector. The recommendations in this volume are general ones, and many of them are directed to the need for further information as well as a more integrated view of transport alternatives and administration. Because of these recommendations, the IBRD intends to send a transportation sector mission to Liberia during 1976. Its report will at that point replace Volume VI of this present report.   SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 1. Liberia's strategic geographical location at the extreme Western edge of the African continent on the Atlantic coast makes it an ideal transit point for international aircraft and ships to and from the Americas and Europe. Recognition of this natural advantage might have influenced Liberia's liberal maritime policy which has attracted many international. shipping companies to sail under her flag. 2. Along with the other West African countries, Liberia shares the unfortunate features of thick inland deciduous forests, coastal mangrove swamps, heavy seasonal rainfall and poor road-making soils - each of which contributes to a comparatively high cost of ground transportation. 3. The nation's transport system is focused on Monrovia, the capital and largest city, which is served by a modern deep-water port, two inter- national airports, a skeletal trunk road network, and two short stretches of railway line. Other centers are Buchanan with its modern port and rail- road, and Harperat the extreme south end of the country. 4. The highway sector, although not well developed, is the predominant domestic transport mode for moving passengers and non-enclave products from the hinterland to Monrovia and other seaports. The railways serve enclave interests,primarily iron ore. No two modes are complementary, except the interphase of the railways and the roads at the ports. 5. The Liberian Government does not directly engage in commercial transportation, except for the National Port Authority and the Liberian National Airline which are public corporations. The Highway Sector 6. Roads are dominant mode of domestic transport and account for almost the entire movement of persons and non-enclave products. The movement is mostly from the hinterland to the seaports and from villages to metro- politan areas and vice-versa. Statistics on this movement do not exist but a rising trend of about 5 percent per annum has been noticeable over the past five years. With increased political concern and planned economic activities for the interior, as well as emphasis on road improvements, domestic passengers and freight are expected to grow at slightly higher annual rates. 7. The number of vehicles more than doubled in the five-year period 1966-1970 from 11,732 to 23,210. Assuming the trend has been maintained over the past two years, Liberia would have a total of about 35,000 vehicles today. About one-third of the vehicle fleet consists of heavy vehicles, of which less than two-thirds are trucks. This distribution has been maintained over the past several years. The rest are taxicabs and passenger cars. Liberia is well supplied with vehicles although there is some maldistribution of traffic between the major cities and the hinterland and small villages.  - ii - The fleet composition reflects the relatively small movement of heavy and bulky non-enclave goods and products within the country by road. Any major change in the present traffic composition can only be predicated on the type of economic activity whichtakes place in the neglected hinterland. 8. The road transport industry, with free entry to all Liberians, is dominated by owner-operator or single vehicle companies. Fares and other charges, although non-regulated, appear to be fairly reasonable and competi- tive with other West African countries. Poor highway regulation and enforcement, and lack of data on road user charges, road construction and maintenance costs, make it difficult to determine the extent to which operators rather than consumers are being subsidized by the government. 9. Of Liberia's 4,200-mile road network, 290 miles or about 11.6 percent is paved. The rest is all-weather laterite and dry-weather farm-to-market roads. The network is inadequate for Liberia's needs, since many potentially productive parts of the country have no access by road. The primary network requires intensive and adequate maintenance and upgrading to cope with current and forecasted traffic. The $40 million current five-year road developaent and maintenance program may result in an improved network. 10. The Ministry of Pu.blic Works (MPW) is responsible for highway admini- stration. The continued inadequacy of road maintenance activities has resulted in a planned reorganization of the Ministry to reflect greater emphasis on main- tenance. Under the current five-year program, maintenance activities would be programed, new equipment acquired and maintenance supervisors and other tech- ni-nicns trained. 11. Although the Government's policy has not been explicitly stated, the road development and maintenance program aims at upgrading and maintaining the main primary road from Monrovia to Cape Palmas and constructing other vital missing links in Montserrado and Lofa counties within the next five years. 12. Subsequent road programs should be feeder road projects and road components of integrated rural development projects. Such roads are the key to genuine Liberia development. The Ports 13. Liberia's four main sea-ports - Monrovia, Buchanan, Greenville, and Cape Palmas, handle the nation's entire foreign trade and some trans-shipment to other countries. There has been a substantial increase (from 16.1 million in 1965 to 23.0 million tons in 1971) of total tonnage handled at the ports (representing a compound growth rate of 5.3 percent per annum). The major growth occurred in iron ore and has offset a steady decline since 1972 in imports and trans-shipment. This decline is attributable to new customs  - iii - regulations which adversely affect the trans-shipment and the holding of inventories at the Freeport of Monrovia. The decline has been reflected in the port incomes of the National Port Authority (NPA) which manages the ports of Monrovia, Greenville and Cape Palmas and in stevedoring services. 14. Port traffic is expected to increase gradually, mostly from iron ore shipment. There is sufficient capacity at Monrovia and Buchanan to handle this increase. However, capacity at Greenville and Cape Palmas is limited and could not efficiently handle any increased traffic. Since neither of these two ports can be significantly expanded or improved on their present sites - there is need for a new port in the southeastern region of liberia. 15. NPA's administration of the ports is reasonably efficient although there is continuing need for professional personnel. Moderate profits were made from port operations during the past three years. 16. Future investments in the ports, beyond maintenance and rehabili- tation of existing facilities, must await the results of an ongoing comprehen- sive port development study. This study aims at emphasizing the south- eastern region whose development prospects hinge on a deep water port with good road or rail access to the hinterland. Railways 17. Liberia's 300 miles of railway line are owned and operated by four iron ore concessionaires (Liberia Mining Co., National Iron Ore Co., Bong Mining Co., and LAMCO Joint Venture Co.), almost entirely for transporting ore from the mines to the ports. Iron ore transported by the railways has increased from 12 million tone in 1964 to over 22 million tons in 1972. 18. Iron ore is Liberia's most important natural resource, accounting for 75 percent of foreign trade and 25 percent of public receipts. Produc- tion is expected to increase at about 6 percent per annum through 1974 and would result in an efficient utilization of the railway capacity. There is practically no demand for railway services outside the enclave sector. Liberia's general transport needs could best be served by a road network system rather than by a common carrier railway network. Thus, any future expansion of the railway network in Liberia would be strictly in connection with iron ore mining activities, although possible future demand of railway services cannot be completely discounted at the moment. Air Transport 19. Liberia is served by 14 international airlines from two major air- ports, Roberts International and Spriggs Payne. International passenger traffic has grown from 42,000 in 1966 to about 59,000 in 1971 - an.annual growth rate of about 7 percent. Most of these passengers are in transit. Similar moderate increases have been registered over the same period in air cargo and air mail. Traffic forecasts indicate that the rising trend will continue. Some major improvements have been and are being carried out at the two international airports, but only one international airport appears necessary for the country's needs.  - iv - 20. Domestic air transport has either stagnated or declined over the past six years. The Government-owned Liberian National Airline's share of the domestic market has declined at an annual rate of about 15 percent for the past six years. Among the possible reasons for this decline are: com- petition by three non-scheduled charter companies; opening of new roads; limited service (LNA flies only to four of Liberia's more than 30 airports and strips); and variable demand for air services. The tourist industry, a major user of domestic air transport services in most developing countries has not been developed. There are no prospects for increased capacity by either the LNA or non-scheduled charter companies in light of the current and forecast demand conditions.  I. INTRODUCTION A. General Background 1. Most of the road network was built during the past 20 years with US technical assistance from the Bureau of Public Roads, financial aid from US Export-Import Bank and some suppliers' credits. More recently, the Federal Republic of Germany and the World Bank Group have contributed to developing the transport sector. Much remains to be done in the entire transport sector yet. For its size and economic potential, Liberia's transport facilities are grossly inadequate. Sierra Leone, Cameroon, and Ivory Coast each has 33, 38 and 71 km of road per 1,000 population as 2 against 4.2 km per 1,000 for Liberia. Road density in Liberia is .06 km/km2 compared to .27 km/km2 for Sierra Leone, a neighboring country with many similar economic and physical features. 2. Most of the population, about 62 percent, is concentrated in three contiguous counties: Montserrado, Bong, and Nimba which constitute only 38 percent of the land area. Only 15 percent of the population live in urban areas (Monrovia, Buchanan, Harper). Liberia has a high correlation between road and traffic densities and population concentrations. 3. Transport facilities for the enclave sector have been fairly adequate to handle increased output. However, efforts to encourage rural development would strain existing facilities. Success would depend upon the provision of extensive feeder or farm-to-market road networks, connecting the many isolated rural areas to the primary road system and to urban areas and ports. B. Transport Sector Overview 4. Liberia's transport system is not well developed - except for two deep water ports of Monrovia and Buchanan, and the Roberts International Airport, which mostly serve as entry and exit points of international traffic. All inland transport modes are focused in Monrovia and the four seaports. Passenger, merchandise and all non-enclave products between the ports and/o' interior are transported along the road, the dominant domestic mode. The railways serve almost exclusively the enclave sector (iron ore, rubber ard forest products). 5. The two main seaports have a direct link by road, whereas the two minor ports are linked to Monrovia by a circuitous interior road. The ports of Buchanan and Monrovia are served by both road and railway. These two ports handle about 85 percent of the export/import traffic (about 21 million long tons per annum).  - 2 - 6. Of Liberia's 4,200 mile road network system, only about 11 percent is paved while the rest is laterite and earth roads. Traffic is especially dense in the Monrovia urban area, 12,000-13,000 vpd, the north- western corridor (Monrovia-Bomi Hills), 800-900 vpd, and the Careysburg- Ganta corridor, 500-2,000 vpd. Traffic volumes of about 300 vpd, run from Ganta to Zwedru, where about 120 and 140 vpd continue to Greenville and Harper respectively. Usually traffic volumes of this magnitude justify pavement of roads, but Liberia has been slow in incorporating the interior into the main economic sector. It is only recently that efforts to pave and properly maintain these roads have been underway. Outside the primary network and main corridors, effective demand has not been determined. There traffic is negligible and sporadic - accounting for the existing maldistri- bution. 7. Liberia's economic development depends upon the agricultural potential of the hinterland. Penetration roads, more than anything, would stimulate production of the agricultural markets. C. Policy and Problems 8. Up until now, there have not been any comprehensive studies of the subsectors (rail, roads, ports, and aviation), let alone an integrated study of the entire transport sector. Thus, intra-imodal conflicts, complementari- ties, and sectoral priorities have not been determined. Until last year when priorities in the highway subsector were set, there were no policies for road construction and maintenance. This is also the case for the port subsector. The dredging of the Freeport of Monrovia and the emergency main- tenance of Port Harper were individual projects. There has yet to be a com- prehensive study of Liberia's port needs and to the interphase with highways and railways, or in the context of Liberia's development potential. Although the railways serve almost exclusively the enclave sector and domestic air transport plays only a minute but vital role, their potential in the context of the entire transport sector and how they best complement other modes must be studied. Such a study is vital for national transport policy and planning. 9. Given the five-year highway development and maintenance program and the comprehensive ports development study about to commence, the task of a sector study is more than half done, since only a subvey of railway and domestic air transport is necessary to complete the transport sector. The World Bank will be reviewing the transport sector again in 1976, when some of this preliminary work is completed.  - 3 - D. Planning and Coordination 10. Liberia's overall economic planning activities are vested in the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs which has not the capability nor the responsibility for sectoral planning. Liberia has no transport sector planning body. Transport priorities have not been defined. There are no formal or informal coordination channels among the various transport modes or subsectors. Highway transport planning and administration are carried out by the Ministry of Public Works (MP1), while the National Port Authority administers the ports. The Bureau of Transport of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Transportation administers and regulates all transport services - yet it does not plan and coordinate transport sector activities as a whole. 11. While such a haphazard approach usually results in inefficient use.of scarce resources, the transport system is so underdeveloped that all efforts are presently concentrated in fulfilling the obvious primary needs of the nation's infrastructure. E. Conclusion 12. While the transport sector has been improved so that it can manage its present traffic volume, further improvements are necessary as the government under its policv of a balanced development spreads its sphere of influence into the rural areas. Therefore the policy objective is to provide access to the now inaccessible areas. To redress this imbalance, it is necessary to define a transport policy , to make it explicit through a transport plan, and to coorcinate it with a comprehensive development plan. 13. The entire sector should be viewed as a whole so that complementarity could be realized and modal conflict resolved - at the planning rather than operating stage. This is not possible without close cooperation and coordination among (1) the subsectors and (2) all other sectors of the economy. At present such cooperation and coordination are lacking and must be encouraged or developed at the sector level through or among MPWI, NPA and Ministry of Commerce Industry and Transportation and at the national level through the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs. II. THE HIGHWAY SUBSECTOR A. Characteristics and Growth of Traffic 14. The production of the non-enclave economic sector of Liberia and all domestic passenger transportation is by road. While there are no country- wide statistics on the total domestic movement of freight and passengers, traffic volumes on the major roads indicate the importance and position of road transport (See Table 2). 15. About half of the traffic is concentrated in Monrovia alone, and more than three-fourths of the traffic is concentrated in the Monrovia-Ganta corridor which is the population, commercial and agricultural focal point  - 4 - of Liberia. Other roads that carry reasonable traffic volumes are Monrovia- Bomi Hill-Mano River and Monrovia-Robertsfield-Buchanan, and to a lesser extent, Gbanga-Zwedru and Zwedru-Greenville. These latter roads have generated considerable traffic in volume (ADT) because of the concentration of the timber industry in the southeastern region. 16. Average daily traffic of up to 13,000 vehicles per day (vpd) have been recorded between Monrovia and Sinkor, and 12,000 vpd between Monrovia and St. Paul River. The traffic pattern indicates that Monrovia is the focal point and further away from Monrovia, the lesser is the traffic volume. 17. In 1961 there were about 7,900 vehicles in Liberia, in 1966 about 11,700 and in 1970 about 23,200. Between 1961-70 the average annual growth rate was about 11.35 percent. Assuming that this trend was maintained during 1971-74 Liberia would now have about 35,000 vehicles. 18. During the same period gasoline consumption rose from about; 9.2 to 19.0 million gallons in 1970, representing an average growth rate of 10.6 percent per annum. Most of the gasoline is now refined in Liberia from imported crude oil. 19. Liberia's road transport industry developed without controLs and regulations. Entry into the industry is unrestricted to Liberians. Originally entry was allowed to all, but subsequent legislation excluded foreigners. After an initial period when a road is opened, fares and other charges are determined by competition among individual operators. The charges are generally reasonable and uniform, and often lower than those in some West African countries. 20. The taxi fare within Monrovia is US30, and USU60 in the expanded metropolitan area. Road transport charges per passenger for long journeys range from US$1 for 44 miles to about US$10 for 476 miles. Average operating costs per mile the USW14-20 for light vehicles and slightly higher for heavier vehicles (see Table 3). Road users' charges are difficult to deter- mine partly because the Government maintains no consolidated accounts of highway and vehicle related receipts and recurrent expenditures on road maintenance, and partly because the several activities are fragmented and handled in several agencies and ministries.1/ 21. There were about 186 transport and transport-related concerns in Liberia in 1972, with about 4,101 taxis, 1,873 trucks and pick-ups and 1,581 buses. The predominant concern is the one vehicle, owner-operator type, and only a few companies have 10 or more vehicles. Except for the few large operators, most operators do not carry any insurance coverage, so irrecoverable loss is sustained in the event of an accident. Insurance premiums for minimum coverage of a taxi are about US$500 per annum and much higher for other types of commercial vehicles. These high premiums reflect the very high risk factor, a very low percent of insured vehicles in the nation and a very high accident rate (50 per 1,000, 1970-1971). 1/ Recent action has been undertaken to study and consolidate such charges in the Ministry of Finance.  22. The Government has a policy requiring the insurance of private and commercial vehicles, but this policy is not implemented and enforced. This is also true about vehicle registration, driver licensing and traffic regula- tion enforcement - all of which exist only in theory. 23. There are about 16 fairly well equipped auto repair shops, mostly located in Monrovia, owned by the major automobile dealers. These shops are staffed with qualified technicians and provide reasonably good services. The four iron ore concessionaires have excellent auto and heavy equipment workshops, but do not accept public business. There are about 80 other ill- equipped auto workshops all over the country whose services are poor to fair. Of the six major auto dealerships all but two are foreign owned. 24. Traffic regulation and enforcement are fragmentory and inefficiently administered in several agencies. Unless these functions are consolidated and properly administered, the road transport industry is bound to suffer with the growth of traffic volume and the alarming accident rate. 25. In 1970 about 30 percent of the vehicles were heavy vehicles; trucks and buses. The rest were taxicabs and personal passenger cars. Of the heavy vehicles, trucks outnumbered buses 2:1. The same ratio of light to heavy vehicles holds today and could be explained by the fact that most of the domestic freight is non-bulky and light. Conspicuously absent in Liberia are "Mammy Wagons", whose main advantages are: (1) low capital cost; (2) flexibi- lity and (3) spaciousness. However, the mammies have their disadvantages: over-sized bodies, a menace to other vehicles; overloading which has a direct negative effect on the road and vehicles, and uncomfortable means of moving passengers and freight together in one compartment. 26. Most of the passenger buses in Liberia are "Mini buses". The two main versions are the 40 and 20 seaters. The larger type mostly ply in the urban areas and environs, while the smaller versions ply the suburb and rural areas as well as long journeys. Perhaps up to 90 percent of the taxi- cabs are concentrated in Monrovia. The rest can be found in the other few urban areas. Most of the taxis operating in Monrovia will occasinally go a radius of about 30 miles. Even with the planned encouragement to locate economic activities in rural areas and the increased pace of road building and maintenance activities, the present traffic composition is likely to persist unless access is provided to new areas and existing roads are improve3d. B. Road Infrastructure 27. There are about 4.,200 miles of primary and secondary roads in Liberia. The primary road system consists of about 1,700 miles of all-weather paved and laterite roads along economic and settlement areas in three major counties: Montserrado, Bong and Nimba. Most of the network originates from Monrovia (see Table 4 and Transportation Map). A 94-mile paved road runs from Monrovia through Roberts International Airport (RIA) to Buchanan, the second most important port in Liberia. The major primary road from  - 6 - Monrovia runs in a northeastern direction through moderately populated parts of Bong County to Yekepa, on the Guinea border, with junctions at Gbanga and Ganta. The Gbanga junction continues in a northern direction to Voinjama and then west into Sierra Leone. The Ganta junction continues in a south- eastern direction in the interior through Zwedru to Harper (Cape Palmas), a major population and economic center near the Ivory Coast border. Another junction of the road after Zwedru continues via Pine Town, Juazohn to Greenville, a timber and logging port. There is also a north-westerly primary road from Monrovia through the Bomi Hills ore mine to Mano River, another ore mine near the Sierra Leone border, with a junction at Kle. This road runs alongside the joint LMC-NIOC ore concession railway line. From Kle, an IBRD financed road runs in a western direction to Tiene, where a Liberia-Sierra Leone link is now under construction. A new road has been completed from Bendu on the Kle-Tiene road to Robertsport, a potential tourist resort by Lake Piso. 28. The current "Five-Year Road Development and Maintenance Program" aims to upgrade most of the primary network between Totota and Tapeta; Brewerville-Bomi Hills; Brewerville-Hopolu, to construct a new stretch of road from Bong Mine through Bopolu to Zorzor, and three short stretches between Tatuke and Kaloke, Plibo and Barclayville, and Buchanan and River Cess - the section forming a possible second leg of a future coastal road. 29. A casual look at the road map of Liberia raises the question as to why there is no road from Buchanan to Cape Palmas. This would serve as a through coastal highway from Monrovia and avoid the circuitous inland road, thus saving about 200 miles. The reason is that there are only a few small fishing villages along the coast and that most of the coastal area is swampy or marsh land which presents formidable technical and cost problems for road construction even under the most favorable economic conditions. Unlike the hinterland, where there is timber or where tree crops could be raised, the coastal swamps have no timber nor would the soil raise any crops. Under the circumstances,justification for the coastal road would only depend on through traffic between Buchanan, Greenville and Harper, which is currently non-existent and not expected to grow. 30. Currently, all bulky and heavy freight for Greenville or Cape Palmas is handled by coastal vessels, and most of the small villages along the coast can be reached by light aircraft in case of emergency and other administra- tive necessities. In addition, two stretches of roads to be constructed under the current Five-Year Program, one from Plibo to Barclayville andL another from Buchanan to River Cess, would leave a coastal span of about 110 miles without a road. During discussion with the mission, the Liberian authorities said that they would consider the missing lfhk during the second road development program, with emphasis of locating the route further inland from the coast where better soil may exist and natural resources could be exploited. Thus, at the moment, there is no strong economic justification for a through coastal road, particularly when more pronounced needs for roads in central Lofa county have yet to be met.  - 7 - 31. While the primary road network is still under construction, it is not surprising that the secondary network is less developed and does not claim national priority. At present, it consists of about 1,500 miles of road linking agricultural establishments and other small scale economic activities to the primary road system or semi-urban areas. Some of these roads cannot be used at all during parts of the wet season. In addition to the secondary road system, there are about 376 miles of unspecified farm-to market and other roads mostly located within or associated with agricultural areas, rubber plantations and timber forests. The roads in this last category are not shown in any transport map of Liberia. Most of the concessions have built roads of various standards within their business areas or to the nearest population center or primary roads. There are about 1,300 miles of such roads which serve the concessions and, to some extent, the public. 32. - Many parts of Liberia have not yet been provided with primary, let alone, penetration roads. These areas are north Grand Cape Mount, Central Lofa, most of Grand Bassa, Grand Gedeh, and most of Sinoe counties. The common characteristics of these areas are that they have widely dispersed small communities and no major economic activity. The cost of providing feeder or penetration roads in these areas would be quite high and hard to justify on economic benefits alone, particularly in the absence of planned development of the hinterland. However, after the current Five-Year Program, which would provide the vital missing links in the primary network, the Government intends to shift its emphasis from primary to feeder road network, particularly in the isolated areas. 33. The preceding description of the Liberian road system is not meant to convey the impression of a lack of road building in the country. To the contrary, activity in this vital sector of the economy is quite significant. The transportation map accompanying this volume of the report indicates the roads now existing and those bAing built. Of particular significance now is the link between Liberia and Sierra Leone and the road from Totota to Ganta, both of which are now under construction. C. Highway Administration and Maintenance 34. The Ministry of Public Works (MPW) is responsible for the public highway network. Its functions are performed through four Bureaus, one each for Administrative Services, Technical Services, Operations, and Construc- tion. MNW also has a Planning Division which reports directly to the Deputy Minister. The Ministry also has a physical Planning Division whose scope and responsibilities include the following: to formulate' plans and guide general land-use development; to observe physical development of Townships, City or County seats and maintain a comprehensive general plan of Monrovia and each local city and region. However, at present the Division is pre- dominantly undertaking zoning. The Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Action for Development and Progress are actively involved in providing minimum penetration roads outside the National Highway Program of the Ministry of Public Works.  35. In 1970, MPW employed about 2,100 persons, of whom about 1,800 were assigned to the Bureau of Operations which maintains public roads. There is a shortage of well-trained engineers in MPW because of low Government salaries. As early as 1969 MPW recommended that salaries be raised to attract engineers from the private sector ancd from abroad. The salaries of engineers and tech- nicians at MPWwere finally raised by 25 percent in January 1973 and the Government is now confident that it can recruit the engineers required for MPW. However, engineers and civil servants with similar qualificaticns in other ministries who have not benefited from the MPW 25 percent salary increase are now unhappy. 36. The proposed reorganization program is also in vital need of mechanics, operators, and foremen and about 300 of MPW's Bureau of Operations staff will require additional training. The Government's Technical Institute at Kakata was designed to provide advanced vocational education. However, the mission which recently appraised an education project in Liberia, does not consider the Institute to be the right training center for MPW.1/ More effective training for MNW staff could be provided at two pilot maintenance centers at Buchanan and Greenville financed by a grant from the Federal Republic of Germany. These centers have the necessary equipment, and were established to provide on-the-job training for the personnel required to maintain about 290 miles of roads constructed with German financial assistance. Since their establishment in 1971, about 25 persons have been trained at the two centers. To allow training of the 300 MPW employees within the four-year program, the Federal Republic of Germany has agreed to expand its prc,gram at the centers. 37. Foreign consultants are used in the MPW for engineering of major highway projects which involve loans from foreign sources. MPW's Bureau of Technical Services designs minor works, for example farm-to-market roads, which are generally carried out by the Ministry's own sources. The Bureau also has functional responsibility for all engineering services, major and minor. It appears to be competent and is assisted by MPW's soils and materials testing laboratory. 38. Major road construction is carried out mostly by contract on the basis of competitive bidding. MPW's regional districts supervise road con- struction, with assistance from foreign consultants. Only two Liberian-owned contracting firms have experience in road and bridge construction. To date, three foreign firms with established local branches have executed contracts. The local construction,industry, especially the road construction industry, should be stimulated.-/ 39. The Bureau of Operations, responsible for public properties and for highway maintenance, performs this task through six Regional District and County Offices, each headed by a Resident Engineer. The principal function 1/ Report No. PE-39a, March 9, 1972 2/ The IBRD Second Highway Loan also includes financial aid for stimulating the local construction industry.  - 9. - of a District office is the direct suipervision of field operations. Main- tenance and repair of highway equipment is done by the Bureau's Mobile Equipment Division which comprises the Central Workshops at Monrovia and five field stations. 4o. In the past, the road network has been ina 4equately maintained, partly as a result of the organizational structure 1 of the Ministry of Public Works and partly as a result of insufficient funds and maintenance equipment. Sometimes the Government did not provide enough funds even for recurrent road maintenance expenditures. The old maintenance organization suffers from several shortcomings: (i) lack of supervision from Hleadquarters over decisions and operations of Resident Engineers; (ii) lack of reporting to Headquarters of performed maintenance operations; (iii) inaccurate recording of maintenance expenditures; (iv) absence of regular preventive maintenance for equipment; and ( v) inadequacy of programming operations and fund allocations. The weakness of the organization as a whole stemmed mainly from the unclear separation of maintenance responsibilities from other tasks, and from a shortage of well-trained staff. 41. To reorganize MPWW, consultants recommend creating a Highway Main- tenance Division at the Ministry. This division should have full control over each region's maintenance operations on the public highway system, including planning and programming of operations, and supervision of labor and equipment used by Regional Districts. At the same time, the Mobile Equipment Division would be strengthened in equipment, staff, and budget.2/ 42. The organizational and staffing problems are compounded by the shortage of maintenance equipment. MPW's equipment fleet is presently com- posed of about 200 units, of which more than 55 percent are beyond economical repair. A 1964 IBRD loan had financed US$860,000 of maintenance equipment, most of which was delivered in 1965. It has now outlived its useful service period. Also, over the past 10 years, USAID has provided several batches of highway maintenance equipment, most of which now requires reconditioning to be useful. 43. On the basis of two feasibility studies, Highway Organization and Maintenance and Monrovia Port Area Highway and Bridge, the Government put together in late 1972 a Five-Year Highway Development and Maintenance Program. The program, estimated atUS$40 million, is supposed to provide or improve about 1,000 miles of primary and secondary road network in Liberia. Other important aspects of the program include the procurement of maintenance equipment, establishment and strategic location of several maintenance work- shops in the nation, and programmed maintenance of all roads. 44. Until this first highway development plan, which represents the first concerted effort to look at the entire highway network and needs as a whole, individual roads have usually been justified on the basis of indivicbaal merits. Some roads were simply built on an ad hoc basis. This lack of 1/ The Five-Year Road Plan includes reorganization of MPW. 2/ The recommendations of the Consultants (SAUTI) are currently being implemented.  - 10 - planning followed from a lack of a national highway policy to set the national road priorities and strategies of fulfillment. The reorganization of the N'W should provide a means of some minimal planning of the highwrays. 45. Ministry of Puiblic Works established in June 1974 a Highway Planning and Programming Division which also works with the Consultants (SAUTI) in overall planning. It is currently being staffed. 46. Once staffed, the tasks of the Planning Division will be: (i) to collect traffic and inventory data on the entire network; (ii) to analyze construction and maintenance costs; and (iii) to assess priorities for road construction and improvement in accordance with general development plans. 47. Road construction works have been financed largely from foreign loans. A supplier credit of US$23 million was signed in 1962, and the IBRD lent US$3.25 million in 1964, supplemented by a loan of US$1 million in 1965 (Loan 368-LBR); in 1971, USAID committed US$4.4 million for financing four rural roads. IBRD committed US$3 million and IDA US$2.6 million for engi- neering of roads in 1973, while USAID recently financed a socio-economic study of a rural penetration road. The Federal Republic of Germany has also participated in development of the highway network. The Eximbank provided some financing for the purchase of road maintenance equipment dauring 1951-63. The results of all these efforts have been satisfactory, but much still remains to be done. 48. Expenditures for highway administration and maintenance are financed from the general budget. MFW's budget is prepared annually by its Finance Division on the basis of estimates from its four Bureaus. Except for personel services, it is not required that every item of expenditure be supported by detailed statements. A consultant fina, SAUTI, has now proposed programming and budgeting techniques which would indicate the purposes of programs and ways to improve budget preparation and cost accounting procedires. 49. During 1968-72, recurrent expendituires for road maintenance and for MPW salaries increased from US$1.2 million to US$1.9 million, or by about 12 percent annually. The allocation for maintenance operations alone rose by about 7.5 percent annually to almost US$1 million, but on account of traffic growth this was not enough to keep the network in adequate condition. 50. There are no reliable data for gasoline consumption and imported vehicles. The Ministry of Finance states that about half of the Liberian imports, subject to customs duties, are in fact brought.in duty-free, primarily because of the many exemptions granted to certain companies. The import duty on all motor vehicles and spare parts is 28 percer