Photo Credit: Jesuit Refugee Service
08/14/2007

Lofa County is in the northeast of Liberia. During the rainy season the road from the capital, Monrovia, to the northeast is frequently impassable. Within Lofa County, Vahun district cannot be accessed by humanitarian organizations because the roads are too bad to get there. Although Lofa County’s roads are in an extremely poor state, they are far from the worst in the country. There are counties, particularly in the southeast, which are totally cut-off.

Major infrastructure projects, particularly road construction, are a prerequisite for recovery and any real economic progress in Liberia. But without debt cancellation, Liberia will be unable to qualify for loans for large-scale infrastructure development. Liberia’s external debt is US$3.7 billion --- 3,000 % of the value of its exports and more than 18 times its 2007/08 national budget of $199 million.