Monrovia — Rehabilitation works on the Zorzor Rural Teaching Training Institute (ZRTTI) situated in Zorzor, Lofa County, will get underway shortly.

USAID, through Liberia Community Infrastructure Program (LCIP), is rehabilitating the facilities under a $2M grant to the Ministry of Education, a US embassy press statement released in Monrovia yesterday said.

The release said the rehabilitation of the once thriving institution will provide significant short term employment opportunities for workers in the surrounding communities. The rehabilitation is being done by Liberian owned construction firms under subcontract to DAI.

Officers of the Ministry of Education, LCIP representatives, Lofa Legislative Caucus, County officials, four Liberian construction companies, the architect of the reconstruction - AEP Consultants, local leaders, as well as former students of the ZRTTI are expected to grace the occasion.

Zorzor Rural Teacher Training Institute (ZRTTI) is Liberia's first teacher training institute, which was constructed in 1960 and jointly managed by the government of Liberia through a partnership with Tuskegee University, one of the US top historically-black colleges and universities (HBCU).

During the war in Liberia, ZRTTI sustained incredible damage from bullets, cross-border shelling from Guinea, and rampant looting that stripped the campus of it's basic infrastructure.

The facility was used as a displaced center and the base of warring factions at various intervals during the civil crisis. Nearly all the roofs, the walls, windows, plumbing, electrical wires, materials, and supplies were looted and destroyed, leaving the campus lying in shocking ruins.

Prior to its closure in 1990, ZRTTI graduated roughly 200 hopeful teachers each year. The campus is located on the outskirts of Zorzor City, on 1000 acres consisting of 61 structures, includes several administrative, academic, dormitory and staff quarters as well as a cafeteria, a library and a student center.

The rehabilitation is being implemented by 4 Liberian construction companies, including General Fabrication & Construction Company, Jusmart Engineers Ltd, Crossroads Enterprise, Ltd, Seek Engineering & Construction.

The reconstruction is estimated to take roughly 7 months from commencement date.