Liberia: Cheesemanburg Landfill Project Risks Closure

Monrovia City Mayor-Designate John Siafa has said there exists a liability of U$2.56 million spent by the International Development Association (IDA) by MCC for the construction of the Cheesemanburg Landfill Urban Sanitation (CLUS) Project.

According to him, if this money is not refunded by the government, the CLUS project would be rendered "ineligible expenditure," thus leading to the total closure of the project.

Furthermore, he said that the CLUS Project is indebted to Cheesemanburg residents in the amount of US$125,000 for payment under the Abbreviated Resettlement Action Plan (ARAP). 

“Financial sustainability remains a key challenge for the city, especially its Solid Waste management (SWM) sector,” Siafa said during his confirmation hearing at the House of Senate. 

According to him, MCC continues to lack the financial tools for taxation and does not possess adequate, timely, or reliable municipal revenue sources to fully sustain itself, much less the Solid Waste Management operations. 

“Thanks to donor support from the World Bank, EU, and other donors for their continuous support of the sector, but, without increased budgetary support from the national government, the sector is currently not sustainable.”

The ongoing CLUS landfill project in Bomi County is a 10-acre parcel of land intended to replace the country’s existing landfill in Whetin Town, Bernard Farm. The objective of the project is to assist the country in increasing access to solid waste collection services in Monrovia. Currently, the country has only one landfill, which has expired. 

The government of Liberia and partners launched the CLUS project in September 2017 for the construction of the new landfill in Cheesemanburg, at a total cost of US$23.6 million. The project was intended to span 5 years, but it has gone up to 7 years due to funding and implementation delays.

According to Siafa, the government of Liberia committed US$1.4 million annually to the CLUS Project. “Unfortunately, GoL could not continue with said support between Year 1 and Year 2 of the Project and recommitted US$750,000 to the sector, which was not yet forthcoming until the last review of the Project when GoL, through the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning, recommitted to US$1.5 million, which should have been reflected in the FY2023 Budget,” he explained.

“But again, GoL could not honor the new commitment; instead, she disbursed US$735,000 to the project since the beginning of the last quarter of FY2023 with an outstanding balance of US$765,000, which is yet to be paid, thus heavily compounding the challenges within the solid waste sector.”

The sanitation and waste sector received less budgetary support from the national budget. Much of what goes to sanitation and waste comes from donors. Siafa called for more budget in order to improve the sector, According to Siafa, the government of Liberia committed US$1.4 million
annually to the CLUS Project. “Unfortunately, GoL could not continue with said support between Year 1 and Year 2 of the Project and recommitted US$750,000 to the sector, which was not yet forthcoming until the last
review of the project when GoL, through the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning, recommitted to US$1.5 million, which should have been reflected in the FY2023 Budget,” he explained.

“But again, GoL could not honor the new commitment; instead, she disbursed US$735,000 to the project since the beginning of the last quarter of FY2023 with an outstanding balance of US$765,000, which is yet to be
paid, thus heavily compounding the challenges within the solid waste sector.”

The sanitation and waste sector received less budgetary support from the national budget. Much of what goes to sanitation and waste comes from donors. Siafa called for more budget in order to improve the sector, but
promised to work with stakeholders to improve it.