Before the 2013 launch of the Early Warning System (EWS) project, Liberia faced challenges accessing weather information due to the damages done to existing infrastructure during the civil conflict. The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and UNDP provided US$6.93 million to support the government in delivering weather and climate information to the public.
The project aimed to enhance climate monitoring capabilities, early warning systems, and information resources for responding to climate shocks and adapting to climate change.
Weather, hydrological, and agromet equipment were procured and installed to monitor, forecast, archive, analyze, and disseminate meteorological, hydrological, and climate change data.
In an email, Louis Kuukpen, UNDP's Deputy Representative, said equipment totaling US$885,816 was procured based on government needs.
"Eleven automatic hydrometric stations were installed and handed over to the government: six surface water monitoring stations and five underground water monitoring stations," he said.
GEF provided US$6,730,000, while UNDP added US$200,000 from its core resources. Earthnetworks, an American-based weather forecast company, was hired to develop a website to provide weather forecasts to the public using 11 meteorological stations placed on Cellcom, now Orange Towers.
A Daily Observer investigation found that ten automatic hydrometric stations, five surface water monitoring stations, and five underground water monitoring stations were installed in 2020 after the project ended.
Groundwater monitoring station at LWSC Facility, Voinjama, Lofa County (Photo Credit: Guah Kennedy)
"Out of the six surface water monitoring stations, we only installed five, but initially, it should have been six," said Guah Kennedy, who served as a technician for the Ministry of Mines and Energy Hydrological Service during the equipment installation of both the underground and surface water monitoring stations.
He claimed that the surface water monitoring station that was supposed to be installed on the Mano River, Bo Waterside, was not installed due to technical glitches.
Amos Borbor, the project's former Administrative and Finance Officer, confirmed Kennedy's claims that there were five underground and five surface water monitoring stations.
Table showing the surface and groundwater stations location, date installed, SIM card number, and Geo-referenced
Groundwater monitoring stations were installed at the Forestry Training Institute (FTI) office in Tubmanburg, Bomi County; Liberia Water and Sewer Facilities (LWSC) in White Plains, Montserrado County; Kakata, Margibi County; Voinjama, Lofa County; and Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County.
Surface water monitoring stations were installed on the Cavalla River, Nyaaken, RiverGee County; Cestos River, Unification Bridge, Grand Gedeh County; Lofa River in Barkedu, Lofa County; St. Paul River, Walker Bridge, Beyan Town, Lofa County; and St. John River, Sokopa, Nimba County.
Weather station installed at the RIA. (Photo Credit: Tina S. Mehnpaine)
Weather stations were installed at Roberts International Airport, James Spriggs Payne Airport, Zwedru Air Strip, Tappita Air Strip in Nimba County, Harper Air Strip in Maryland County, and Grand Cess Air Strip to provide weather information for domestic aircraft travels.
Agromet stations were installed at the Forestry Training Institute (FTI) in Tubmanburg, Bomi County; Ministry of Agriculture sub-offices in Buchanan, Grand Bassa, Fish Town, Rivergee, Voinjama, Lofa County; the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI) in Bong County; and Sarclepea, Nimba County Magistrate Court, to collect weather information for farmers.
These stations were installed with SIM cards to collect and store the data and transmit it through the GSM network. The weather and agromet stations were purchased from Adcon, and coordinated by the technicians of the Ministry of Transport (MOT) metrology department, while the hydrometric stations were purchased from Seba and coordinated by technicians of the hydrological bureau of the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
These SIM cards needed to be routinely recharged with megabyte subscriptions to transmit the data; there was no money set aside by the project to purchase megabytes for data transmission.
"No money was available for transmission of data," said Kennedy.
Vandalized and malfunctioning Equipment
The weather station in Harper, Maryland County, was vandalized. The solar panel was stolen. Two surface water monitoring stations installed on the Cestos River, Unification Bridge, Grand Gedeh, and the St. Paul River, Walker Bridge, Beyan Town, Lofa County were also vandalized and destroyed. The solar panels were stolen. The groundwater station installed at the LWSC facility in Grand Gedeh County was vandalized.
Vandalized surface water station on the St. Paul River at Walker Bridge, Beyan Town, Lofa County
According to Kennedy, for the station installed on the Lofa River in Barkedu, Lofa County, an inhabitant of Barkedu town, Karmon Kamara, complained that the grass was growing around and inside the station enclosure, so he removed the solar panel.
"His fear was that nobody was going to visit the station; he was not hired with the project, so he advised that he remove the solar panel before they steal it," Kennedy said.
Kennedy said for the surface water stations installed on the St. John River, Sokopa, Nimba County, and the Cavalla River, Nyaaken, RiverGee County, the GSM network was not stable.
Vandalized groundwater station at the LWSC facility Grand Gedeh County
"Since we installed the groundwater station at White Plains in Harrisburg and the FDA training institute in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, it has not transmitted hydrometeorological data due to lack of megabytes," Kennedy said.
He said the groundwater station at the FDA training center in Tubmanburg, Bomi County, never had a SIM card. However, the technician used a personal SIM card to do the test.
No Monitoring for Equipment
The project failed to hire locals to monitor the equipment, resulting in vandalism at some sites. Borbor, who also served as the acting project coordinator, explained that individuals were only contacted to oversee the equipment, not hired as official monitors.
Kennedy reported that there was no scheduled monitoring of the stations after installation. He also criticized the quality of the borehole installation and fencing materials for the stations.
Mehnwo Kollie, a MOA District officer in Grand Bassa County, stated that since the agromet station's installation in 2018, the MOT has released information to support local farmers. However, he expressed uncertainty about whether the station is currently functioning and collecting data.
"Since it was installed, we haven't received any information. It's just standing here. Whether it's collecting information, we don't know," he said.
Monitoring was conducted by UNDP, not MOT. Kuupen noted that joint monitoring missions were conducted during project implementation, and the Ministry was responsible for ongoing monitoring after the project's closure.
Other Asset not Accounted for
Three vehicles were procured to support meteorologists and weather forecasters from the MOT who were trained by the project at the RIA. One vehicle was initially assigned to the late MOT's assistant minister, Nuwoe A. Digler Scott, and later transferred to her family upon her passing.
Konah Y. Digler, the late minister's brother, confirmed that the family requested the ministry to transfer the vehicle after her death.
"My sister, my older sister, and my two other brothers went and asked the former MOT minister Samuel Wlue for the vehicle for which they turned over to us," he said.
The bus is currently used by the ministry, not the metrology department, according to Borbor and Albert Sherman, Assistant Director of Metrology. The duo were mandated by the MOT's Deputy Minister for Administration and Insurance, Archibald S. Abban, to respond to inquiries on the vehicles. They were unable to account for the remaining one vehicle.
Borbor, now a Special Assistant to MOT's Minister, Sirleaf Tyler, stated that vehicles and stations were transferred to the ministry at the project's conclusion in 2020. He left the project after its completion.
"I don't know [whether] the ministry retrieved the vehicle from the late minister's family," he said. "Plus the one as well, I can't speak to that because I was not in the ministry."
Even the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and two boats that were purchased by the project for Liberia Hydrological Service were also delivered after the project ended.
No tangible Forecast collected
Apart from the 11 automatic stations that were placed on Cellcom towers and operated by Earthnetworks, the weather, hydrometrical, and agromet stations, were coordinated and operated by technicians from MOT and the hydrological bureau of the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
According to the project terminal evaluation report, a modern and fully functional EWS was only partially put in place.
The evaluation mission took place in Liberia in December 2018 to assess the project's progress and achievements, learn lessons, and make recommendations for future adaptation priorities and climate-related information. The final report was produced in January 2019.
Also, there is no record of whether the information collected by the equipment was qualified, approved, or verified by the World Metrological Organization (WMO).
Sherman, who presented MOT during the project implementation, said there were procedures that the department should have followed per WMO standards: seasonal and weekly bulletins for which the project did not provide funding.
He said the decision of Earth networks to put their stations on cellcom towers was below WMO standards. "But due to our situation, that was the only option we had to be able to give out the forecast for the public," he said.
Borbor also admitted that the department of met at MOT did not follow the WMO standard to ensure that the data collected were qualified and verified to meet international standards.
"All we had was for that particular data to be accredited by WMO, which was not done."
Arthur Gar-Glahn, MOT's former director of the metrology department, who is also Liberia's Permanent Representative to WMO, declined to comment on the project because he is retired from the ministry.
Failed Sustainability Plan
One key objective of the EWS project was to develop and maintain a well-functioning climate monitoring system to predict extreme weather, climate-related hazards, and trends.
Hydrometeorological, weather, and agrometeorological data collected by the equipment and stations were intended to compile into a database and be centralized, archiving technologies at the meteorology division and hydrological of the MOT and the Liberia Hydrological Services, Ministry of Lands, and Mines.
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At the end of the project, the government of Liberia needed to take full ownership and ensure that these stations and equipment were maintained, which was not done.
The government failed to maintain the partnership with Earth networks after the project ended, leading to the website being shut down. Despite training 27 staff from various institutions in meteorology, hydrology, data collection, and analysis, many of these trained staff are now untraceable. The project's plan did not include staff retention.
The project was co-financed, with the government of Liberia, which was expected to contribute US$5,965,428. However, there's no evidence of this contribution. While the government provided office space and staff, it failed to meet its financial obligation. Apart from the vandalized and malfunctioning stations, the remaining stations are down.
The project was intended to last from 2013 to 2017, but it had a no-cost extension ending in 2020.
New Project Launched on Accessing Climate Information
With funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the Enhancing Climate Information Systems for Resilient Development in Liberia, otherwise referred to as the CIS Project.
Similar to the EWS project, the CIS project aimed to reduce Liberia's vulnerability to climate-induced natural hazards through a well-functioning multi-hazard impact-based forecasting and early warning system (MH-IBF-EWS).
The project intends to train relevant agencies to collect weather and climate data, develop and maintain forecasting models, and provide timely early warnings. It also seeks to transform climate risk reduction and management in Liberia.
Tinatua Calvin Kollie, an EPA consultant who worked on the CIS and EWS projects, acknowledged the EWS's challenges and emphasized the CIS project's efforts to avoid similar hurdles. He cited ownership, salary disparities, delays, and management changes as factors that hindered the EWS's outcomes.
According to Kollie, to address these issues, the CIS project is recruiting meteorologists who previously worked on the EWS project. These meteorologists will join the CIS project staff, ensuring easier management and a sense of ownership. This approach allows for continued employment within their institutions even if the project ends. The CIS project will also address salary disparities to align with project staff standards.
Sherman is optimistic that the CIS project will leverage the remaining equipment of the EWS project and further strengthen metrological and forecasting in the country.
