DURING HER NEW Year's message to the Nation, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf expressed the hope that 2013 will be a year of true patriotism and reconciliation that will accentuate the positive things that unite Liberians. The Liberian leader noted that the Government of Liberia will forge ahead with its reconciliation program by implementing the Roadmap, which aims at accounting for the past, managing the present, and planning for the future.

PRESIDENT SIRLEAF ALSO said for 2013, Government will be placing great emphasis on infrastructure, with power, ports and roads as its three areas of concentration. According to her these, in turn, will facilitate education, health and agricultural sectors.

"WE EXPECT 2013 to be a good year of demonstrable progress, so that our people will see what this government is doing, what we've accomplished not just in Monrovia, but elsewhere in Liberia," President said.

TOUCHING ON OUR sub-region, President Sirleaf prayed for peace and good relations with Liberia's neighbors, especially the countries of the Mano River Union. She also expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation and the joint monitoring that Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia have at their respective common borders.

MOREOVER, TODAY THERE'S total harmony among the leadership of the sub-region, as they concentrate more on how they can improve regional cooperation and regional integration.

WE JOIN IN expressing the strong believe and expectation that the New Year will see Liberians exercise a true sense of patriotism, foster reconciliation with one another and concentrate on those things that will continue to project the country as one of the good nations of the world. To do this requires hard work, dedication and understanding by all Liberians as we all strive to build a vibrant nation that can compete in all sphere of life.

WE SHOULD BE united with a common sense of purpose, respect our leaders as well as one another for the growth and development of our country that has suffered as a result of a prolonged civil war which with the help of our neighbors and partners, we have finally been rescued from bloodshed to nation-building. A true sense of collective patriotism, genuine reconciliation and the feeling of being our brothers' keepers in this New Year can contribute meaningfully to the building of our country.

AS WE ARE now on the smooth road of lifting our nation to greater height let's reconcile with one another in a true sense and do not wait continuously for government to do this alone because we are all part of the government under the current democratic process.