Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On September 9, 2019, the Government of Liberia and the Chinese Government signed letters of exchange, which officially committed RMB 261,700,000 of grant funding for the Overpass Bridges Project along Tubman Boulevard. The grant proceeds where drawn from an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ECTA), which was signed by the parties on September 2, 2018 and committed RMB 320 million ($54 million) of grant funding for multiple projects (as captured via Record ID#88529). The purpose of the project is to construct two overpasses in the capital city of Monrovia to ease traffic around the SKD stadium and the ministerial complex. The project will construct the 1,140 meter mainline of the west overpass bridge reconstruction section on Back Road and Tubman Boulevard, 480 meters of auxiliary roads, additional ramps with a length of 950 meters, and an overpass with a length of around 287 meters. It will also construct the 870 meter mainline of the east overpass bridge reconstruction section on Back Road, additional ramps with a length of 1080 meters, and an overpass with a length of around 162 meters. One section will be located at the SKD Boulevard-Ministry of Health Intersection in Congo Town while the other section will be located at the Ministerial Complex. The contractor responsible for implementation is unknown. A feasibility study was to be conducted in October 2018. A set of meeting minutes on the project were also signed by the Government of Liberia and the Chinese Government on October 31, 2018. The parties then signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the project on June 8, 2021. Then, on September 17, 2021, Liberian Public Works Minister Ruth Collins-Coker and Chinese Envoy Li Jiang finalized a project implementation agreement. As of November 18, 2021, project implementation was underway.
Staff comments
1. Record ID#55468 captures the second half of the ETCA, an emergency food aid project. 2. This project is also known as the Two China-Aid Overpass Bridges Project and the Chinese Government-Assisted Overpass Project. The Chinese project title is 杜博曼大道两立交桥 or 中国援利杜博曼大道两立交桥项目 or 杜博曼大道两立交桥项目. 3. The grant funding for this project was disbursed through a joint China Development Bank account that was established with the Bank of Liberia. 4. The contractor responsible for implementation is unknown. This issue warrants further investigation.