SANNIQUELLIE, Nimba – The Senegalese company constructing the road from Ganta to Yekepa is expected to resume work in early December, according to information from Nimba’s Superintendent Fong G. Zuagele.

Compagnie Sahélienne d’Entreprises, also known as CSE, had halted work on the 70-kilometer project due to several challenges, Zuagele told reporters in Sanniquellie recently.

“The donor, ArcelorMittal, is facing a financial crisis due to the decline in the price of iron ore, and has been unable to honor its commitments, including contributions to the road work and the social development fund,” he said.

Zuagele informed the press that the Ministry of Public Works had secured the first phase of funding: “The government has secured the funding through its budgetary allotments, and so, CSE is not parking. They will be coming back to begin the project the first week in December.”

The superintendent declined to say how much money had been put aside to enable CSE to resume the project. “We are not at liberty to disclose the details and specifics because there are confidentiality [agreements] on elements of the contract,” Zuagele explained.

The Ganta-Yekepa project was suspended due to heavy rains in August, although the government’s delay in making the first phase payment to the company did not help either.

“Of course, we [would] have wished for the work to begin in October, but we had to wait for December because of two things,” Zuagele said. “First, the ground was not so dry and then secondly, the funding situation was not under control.”

CSE and the government signed an agreement to construct the road from the Ganta-Guinea border intersection to Yekepa in 2015, at a cost of US$40 million for the entire project.

Featured photo by Arrington Ballah