HIGHWAYS V

closed

The Fifth Highway Project seeks to improve Liberia's public road network by strengthening the Ministry of Public Works' (MPW) capacity to carry out road maintenance. It provides for: (i) technical assistance and training to improve MPW's financial and administrative management and help plan and execute the maintenance program; (ii) a three-year routine maintenance program covering the entire public road network of about 4,725 miles; and (iii) periodic maintenance on about 450 miles of priority primary and secondary roads through rehabilitation or regravelling. Liberia's population will benefit from reduced transportation and vehicle operating costs; rural areas that are now difficult to reach due to the poor state of the road network will have improved access to markets. The main risks of the project are that planned improvements in MPW's management performance will not be fully realized and that the Government will be unable to provide sufficient funding, reducing maintenance output. The project will minimize these risks by providing technical assistance and gradually phasing in the Government's contribution to incremental recurrent maintenance costs.