GANTA, Nimba – Ganta will soon have a new market as Mayor Amos Suah has announced that the US$500,000 facility to host the Gompa General Market will soon be dedicated.

The construction of the market building began in 2011 under the sponsorship of the Sirleaf Market Women Fund, an organization founded by former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. In 2013, the project came to a standstill due to the lack of funding.

In November 2019, a team of engineers from the Ministry of Public Works visited the county to assess the project. The project was completed last month through the support of the George Weah administration. Suah told reporters in Nimba that the government’s intervention followed an appeal and negotiation with top officials and partners.

“The project was completed about a month ago and all is now set for it to be dedicated and turned over to the community for use,” the mayor said.

Although he did not state when exactly the market will finally be turned over to the public, Suah praised President Weah for his support in completing the inherited project. According to him, such an effort by the president clearly manifests his readiness for business.

He noted that the market and other completed projects in the county would be formally presented to citizens during an elaborate ceremony graced by the president and other officials.

For many residents, the completion of the market building is a dream come true, as they have long yearned for it.

Yah Williams, a resident of Ganta, told The Bush Chicken in Monrovia that marketers in the city have long lacked a spacious and conducive structure.

“I am very happy for this news,” Williams said.

The parcel of land used for the construction of the new facility was acquired during the Sirleaf administration through eminent domain in 2010 after the land on which the structure stands had been under dispute for years, with several groups claiming ownership.

Currently, marketers are clustered on the piece of land in the height of the city in the absence of a structured facility.

Featured photo by Sualeh Ziamo