Country faces long road to recovery

Post-war Liberia still has a long way to go to recover from seven years of civil war, according to a report published on Sunday entitled “Future Unknown: Liberians face Fragile Transition to Peace,” by Refugees Report (RR). According to RR staff writer Jeff Drumtra, the country’s infrastructure is still severely affected by years of war. The capital Monrovia remains without electricity, prices remain higher and supplies of staple foods and goods remain lower than pre-war level. He added that several key highways are impassable one-third of the year because of rains and years of neglect. The report, based on interviews with former refugees, displaced persons and aid workers, found that “many Liberians expressed mixed emotions about their return home and their prospects for the future.” Drumtra said that post-civil war Liberia was left with “a tenuous peace that is threatened by undisciplined soldiers, disillusioned ex-combatants, pockets of ethnic hostility and economic hardship.”