MONROVIA, Montserrado – As heads of states and dignitaries arrive for the 51st Ordinary ECOWAS Summit and other events in the country, the Liberia National Police has announced new restrictions on traffic flow in and around Monrovia.
The new traffic regulations commence on Friday with the arrival of the president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo.
In a statement issued on Thursday evening, the LNP said due to the visit of the Ghanaian president, new measures for traffic flow have been taken.
“The following measures have been put into place that will affect the free flow of traffic in the following areas,†the statement read.
The police statement said from 10:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., all heavy vehicles traveling along the Robertsfield Highway will be diverted toward the Firestone 15 Gate route to Monrovia.
“On the same day from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., no vehicle will be allowed to travel along the Capitol Byepass-Executive Mansion route,†the statement read. “All vehicles will be diverted to Jallah Town onward to the Vamuma House.â€
The statement added that similar regulations would apply to those from the Tubman Boulevard area.
According to the police, from 2:45 to 3:00 p.m., traffic will be halted along the Gabriel Tucker Bridge to allow the free passage of the VIP convoy, while the streets around the Executive Pavilion will be closed to regular traffic from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Liberia is hosting four mid-year statutory ECOWAS meetings, which began on Thursday, May 25. The meetings will climax with the 51st Ordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and government at the Farmington Hotel in Margibi, on Sunday, June 4, 2017.
The 21st Meeting of the ECOWAS Administration and Finance, which is the first of the series of events began on Thursday at the Monrovia City Hall. It will continue until Sunday, May 28..
This committee is reviewing all administrative activities, programs, and the budget of the ECOWAS Commission and its specialized institutions. It will then make recommendations to the Council of Ministers.
According to a Foreign Ministry release, about 200 participants are attending the four-day meeting.
Besides the series of committee meetings taking place over the next two weeks, sub-regional heads of states and governments are expected to participate in the 51st Ordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at the Farmington Hotel on Sunday, June 4.
On the margins of the ECOWAS summit, Mano River Union states, including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire, will launch the West Africa Power Pool Project, which will provide electricity to the countries within the MRU basin. Other bilateral meetings would also follow on the margins of the summit.
