Monrovia – Finance and Development Planning Minister Samuel D. Tweah Jr., while appearing on State Radio ELBC June 19, 2023 to speak about the success of the Government claimed that the current government has paved 627 kilometers of roads in five years.
Claimed Minister Tweah: “From Joseph Jenkins Roberts time to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf time, 745KM of roads were paved in Liberia.”
He continued: “From 2018 to now (2023), your (you all) know how many kilometers paved now? 1,372 kilometers. When you do the math, it will be 1,372 – 745 = 627 kilometers. This is the road George Weah has done in five years.”
To put in context, the finance minister claim suggests that the current government has paved 627 kilometers out of the total 1,372 kilometers of paved roads in the entire country.
But was he right?
Local Voices Liberia Fact Checking Desk review the existing evidenced to verify the statement. We checked and established that the finance minister was incorrect.
The Evidence
The Ministry of Public Works is the Government’s arm responsible for the Country’s Transport and Social (building) Infrastructures, and Consultancy.
On May 18, 2023, Public Works Minister Madam Ruth Coker-Collins appeared as guest on the Freedom Morning Rise on Freedom FM 87.9MHZ to give an update on the status of Liberia’s road infrastructure.
We carefully listened to the Minister as she explained in detail the condition and status of roads and ongoing pavement projects across the country.
At 1:31:17 of the over two-hour-forty-minute show, Minister Coker-Collins announced that before 2018, Liberia had a total road pavement of 745 km.
She also said that the current government has increased the pavement from 745 to 1,275 kilometers since it took office.
This means, the current administration has paved 530 kilometers of roads and not 627 kilometers as claimed by Finance Minister Samuel D. Tweah Jr.
Conclusion
Based on our review of the statement made by Public Works Minister Ruth Coker-Collins, we conclude that the figure announced by the finance minister contradicts the ones announced by the statutory authority – Public Works. The data provided by Minister Tweah to show that the George Weah administration has paved 627 kilometers of roads in five years is an exaggeration of the fact. The total kilometers of roads paved by the current government in five years is 530 km and not 627 km, according to the Public Works Minister.
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This report was developed with the support of Internews through the USAID Media Activity project. The funder has no say in the editorial decision leading to the production of this content.