Minister Varpilah made the statement on Monday February 20, 2012 at Clay Vocational School on his first leg of inspection tour of the vocational and technical institutions in the country.
At the Clay Monrovia Vocational Training Center, Minister Varpilah was briefed by National Coordinator Joe Gbarzakollie on the progress and challenges of construction works being carried out by students and a Liberian contractor on buildings intended for the vocational school in Bomi County.
The Youth and Sports Minister was accompanied by a team which comprised Deputy Minister for Youth Development Sam Hare and senior staff of the Vocational and Technical Departments. They were take on a guided tour of the piggery and fish pond for site seeing.
At the fish pond and piggery sites, Minister Varpilah and team were briefed on specific challenges relating to the professional allowances of the instructors and other support staff for the past three months.
Also at the Clay MVTC, Minister Varpilah underscored the need for the contractor in charge of the construction of the building to professionally upgrade the current standards of various structures at the main site.
Minister Varpilah also stressed the need to accelerate increase in production, marketing and sustainability of various projects being initiated by the Clay MVTC in Bomi County.
During the guided tour of the Clay MVTC, Deputy Minister Sam Hare briefed Minister Varpilah and team on some of the technical and administrative details of the projects.
Deputy Minister Hare responded to specific questions from Minister Varpilah with regards to the challenges, constraints, concerns and progress of various projects being carried out at the Clay MVTC in Bomi County.
He also reminded the staff at the Clay MVTC and other Liberians that mine, oil and rubber will not sustainably help and empower Liberia and Liberians.
On the second leg of Minister Tornolah Varpilah and team’s stop-over at the Center Songhai Liberia Initiative (CSLI), Center’s National Coordinator Christopher K. Fayia made a power-point presentation on development, growth, challenges and progress.
During the power-point presentation, the CSLI’s Coordinator spoke of acute shortage of water, fencing the campus, renovation of destroyed buildings, revitalization of the pre-war water purification facility and electricity as major challenges of the CSLI in Bensonville, Montserrado County.
He also underscored the need for the Ministry of Youth and Sports to prioritize training for the CSLI’s graduates in the country.
Coordinator Fayia also intimated that 150 farmers were recruited and trained for 15 months in various components of the agriculture phases.
The CSLI official also disclosed that the trainees have been dispatched to various communities of origin and involved in the actualization of their skills acquired during the 15 months of extensive and intensive training sessions.
The Center Songhai Liberia Initiative boss also asserted that the CSLI trainees are involved in the production, processing and marketing of various produce for rural and urban markets of Montserrado County.
CSLI has also made steady progress in imported and local chicken productions and pigs, something that has added financial value to the sustainability of the center.
In response, Minister Varpilah reminded the staff and trainees of the CSLI that political freedom is “inevitable if Liberians are not economically empowered to sustain themselves throughout the country.”
He also described the initiative of the CSLI as good and stressed the need for more investment in the actualization of the programs of processing, production and preservation of various commodities.
Minister Varpilah noted that CSLI program could be a way out for Liberia if Liberians, stakeholders and partners work together to do things very professionally and sustainably.
He further recalled that many of such programs have been initiated in Liberia back in the 1970s and 80s and geared towards making Liberia agriculturally sound but did not achieve the desired results as envisaged by all Liberians.
Minister Varpilah also explained that the initial agricultural projects did not achieve the anticipated results due to the fact that they were cash-driven and intended to produce products that only have demand on the European markets.
At the end of the tour, Minister Varpilah and team were taken on a guided tour of various projects and briefed on their progress, challenges, prospects and development for past one year of operations at the CSLI.
