Government seeks $200-300m from donors for reconstruction

Liberia's transitional government will seek between US$200 million and $300 of foreign aid for a national reconstruction plan which will be put to donors at a conference in New York in early February, a government source said on Friday. The plan, drawn up in collaboration with the United Nations and the World Bank, identifies nine priority areas for investment over the next two years. They include education and health, the repair of roads and the resurrection of electricity and telephone services that were destroyed by 14 years of civil war. Harry Greaves, the head of the economic advisory team to Gyude Bryant, the chairman of the transitional government, said the donor conference would be held in New York on February 5 and 6, two days later than previously announced. The meeting is due to be co-chaired by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Colin Powell. Greaves declined to say how much Liberia would seek in funding until the end of 2005, adding that the amount was still being finalised. However a government source said Liberia would seek between $200 million and $300 million. This is at the lower end of the range of $250 million to $500 million given privately by government officials in December. The money is in addition to $137 million in emergency relief aid in 2004, which the United Nations appealed for in November. An executive summary of the reconstruction plan made available to IRIN said some of the money would be used to strengthen Liberia's primary health care system and rehabilitate six major hospitals. Another tranche would be used to rehabilitate a quarter of the country's ruined primary, secondary and vocational schools. The plan also aims to support the demobilisation of an estimated 40,000 former combatants and assist the resettlement of nearly 900,000 people who were uprooted from their homes by the conflict, which was brought to an end by a peace agreement in August last year. It estimates that the government will have to cater for 350,000 returning refugees who fled to other countries, 464,000 people who are internally displaced within Liberia and 73,000 nationals of other countries who are homeless in Liberia. The reconstruction plan also seeks donor assistance for the holding of free and fair elections to return Liberia to constitutional rule in October 2005.