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Liberia: Cabinet Convenes in Voinjama, Lofa County
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Liberia Government (Monrovia)
18 March 2008
Posted to the web 18 March 2008
Voinjama
The Liberian Cabinet is convening in Voinjama, Lofa County, at the start of a four-day Cabinet retreat in North-Western Liberia. At Tuesday's opening session, which is being dominated by discussions on the country's development pillars, including finalizing discussions on the Poverty Reduction Strategy, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, welcomed cabinet ministers to the session, and lauded them for their presence, having traveled the long stretch to Voinjama. The Liberian leader said the purpose of a cabinet session outside Monrovia was to ensure that ministers have an appreciation of the road condition and other challenges citizens in the rural parts of the country experience on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, President Johnson Sirleaf has urged Liberians living in the Budumburum Resettlement Center in Ghana to remain law-abiding and desist from acts that would undermine peace in Ghana. The President informed the Cabinet of the situation at the Resettlement Center, involving Liberian refugees and said the Liberian government was in discussions with Ghanaian authorities on the situation.
The President disclosed that a delegation is headed for the Ghanaian capital, Accra to hold further discussions with their Ghanaian counterparts and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to address the situation, in the wake of an announcement that the Ghanaian authorities are preparing to expel over six-hundred Liberian refugees, believed to be involved in recent disturbances at the Center. In a recent telephone conversation with Ghanaian President John Kuffor Sunday, President Johnson Sirleaf expressed regrets to the Ghanaian President for the incident and urged the authorities to exercise restraint. Madam Sirleaf said the Ghanaian President was kind in his response, but firm that Ghana would not tolerate any disturbances ahead of general elections in that country this year. She said while discussions continue, Liberia would make the necessary arrangements to receive its citizens who risk expulsion from Ghana.
The President and Cabinet arrived in Voinjama, Monday night to an impressive show of support and goodwill by the people and residents of Voinjama. During Monday's road travel to Lofa, the President and her Cabinet made stops along the routes, with stops at road rehabilitation sites, including the Zorzor Rural Teachers Training Institute (ZRTTI), which is being renovated with funding provided by the government of the United States. The President thanked employees, some of whom included women, for their hard work and dedication.
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At welcoming programs in the towns of Gonglota in Salayea District, Salayea, Zorzor, as well as Quardu-Gboni District, the citizens lauded the President for the peace the country continues to enjoy. They spoke of the need to improve their livelihood by providing more farm-to-market roads, schools, clinics, power generators, macro-financing and other benefits.
Lofa Superintendent Galakpai Kortimai lauded the President and her Cabinet for choosing the county as the venue for the second Cabinet meeting, adding that the People of the area were honored for the recognition.
En route to Lofa, the President also toured the Tumutu Agriculture Training Program in Salala, Bong County, which is providing training opportunities to about four hundred ex-combatants in rubber culture, rice production, animal husbandry, among others. Government's challenge, the Liberian leader said, would be to ensure that skills acquired by the trainees would be put to use upon completion of their training.
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