GANTA, Nimba – The much talked about Gbarnga to Ganta-Guinea Border road construction that was suspended for months due to weather conditions has now resumed.

The Chinese International Construction Company, or CHICO, suspended the work due to the torrential rains in August through early parts of October.

Speaking to reporters in Ganta over the weekend, the Resident Engineer assigned in Nimba County, Lahaison Waritay, explained that CHICO had resumed work given the reduction in the torrential rain.

Waritay said with the dry season’s arrival, the road work would continue to its completion without being halted. Liberia’s dry season runs from mid-October to mid-April, although there can be slight variations every year.

The Gbarnga to Ganta-Guinea Road project is a three-year partnership jointly funded by the Government of Liberia and the European Union. When the project concludes, which is expected to be later this year, the two-lane paved road would start in Paynesville, Montserrado and continue to the Ganta-Guinea Border in Nimba.

In related development, Waritay has disclosed that the Senegalese Company, Compagnie Sahélienne d’Entreprises, which was awarded the contract to build the road from Ganta to Yekepa, has concluded phase one of the project. The phase one exercises involved using earth moving machines to clear some areas along the road.

Meanwhile, he asked the citizens to stop interfering with the road building process.

“What we have noticed is that, our people are removing those redlines that the contractors placed along the road, earmarking strategic points. We are kindly calling on them not to please remove those lines; they have been placed there for a purpose,” He said.

The pavement of the road from Ganta to Yekepa is part of ArcelorMittal’s social responsibility to the people of Nimba. The agreement on the project was signed between the Government of Liberia and the management of ArcelorMittal on January 25, 2013. The then-Minister of Public Works, Samuel Kofi Woods and the C.E.O. of ArcelorMittal Liberia, Antonio Maria, were the signatories to the agreement. At the conclusion of the project, US$40m is expected to be spent on the 70-kilometer road construction.