BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa – After touring Grand Bassa’s five districts to explain his accomplishments over the past two years, Grand Bassa’s Senator Jonathan Kaipay has submitted his legislative report to his constituents.
He did so over the weekend at Buchanan’s Unification Pavilion to scores of residents.
The report highlighted his activities at the Liberian Senate, including the legislative oversight he had undertaken, community impact projects, laws he had contributed to, and his contribution to the health, agriculture, and education sectors.
Kaipay said he wrote several communications to ensure that government institutions were properly functioning. Among these were communications calling on the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning to provide the country’s debts status and another calling on the General Services Agency to give account of the total revenue generated since 2006. Kaipay also said he requested the appearance of Cecelia Cuffy Browne, acting managing director of the National Port Authority, to provide information on the use of the facilities at the Buchanan, Greenville, and Harper.
He also took credit for drafting a bill to create a special economic zone. That bill was passed into law by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and has since been written into handbill.
He said the act seeks to promote the flow of investors into a special economic zone which would generate employment opportunities and establish linkages among industries.
“The Special Economic Zone is the drive which would lead to Liberia’s local economic development master plan,†he added.
Kaipay noted that in 2017, the Senate passed 48 bills while in 2018, it did so to 83 bills. He noted that there were still 49 bills in committee rooms.
The Grand Bassa senator added that he organized the first Grand Bassa Trade and Investment Conference in April 2018 in Buchanan and Edina to expose the potential of the county to investors.
He also noted the US$40,000 motorcyclist union headquarter he personally funded in addition to an ongoing construction of a school in Goah Town, another ongoing construction of a clinic in Harmonsville Township, and the Garduor Town bridge project.
Kaipay also said he used funds dedicated toward Legislative Support Projects on the Bassa-Gio Road and the ongoing construction on the Wee Bridge in the third district.
Moreover, Kaipay said he had visited various schools within the county to provide assessments. Those included the Gbarteah Town Public School, Little Kola Public School, Behnewein Public School, Johnny Nathan Town Public School, and Noyea Public School.
“During our visit to those schools, we found out that they are in ruin. There is a need to improve the facilities and also advocate for the assignment of qualified teachers,†he noted.
Kaipay said he had contributed to providing aid to schools and funding stipends for four volunteer teachers at the Dehyusor and New Sawthrow Public Schools. Since 2016, he said the program has cost L$250,000.
Additionally, Kaipay said his office had spent L$1,061,055 on student tuition from the elementary to college level.
On the health front, the senator said he had provided a 20kva generator to restore electricity at the Liberian Government Hospital when it gutted by fire last year.
However, the hospital continues to face major challenges in terms of a lack of fuel and lack of funds for drugs. The hospital’s medical director has warned that it risks shutting down if conditions do not improve.
Kaipay, who chairs the Senate Committee on Information, Broadcasting, Culture, and Tourism, presented the report the past weekend to citizens after he had toured Grand Bassa’s 45 clans and 18 chiefdoms to ensure that residents there had access to the contents of the report.
Superintendent Janjay Baikpeh and the chair of the Grand Bassa Legislative Caucus, Rep. Thomas Goshua, attended the presentation of the general report in Buchanan.
Kaipay was elected during the mid-term senatorial election in 2014, defeating then-Senate Pro-tempore Gbehzohngar Findley.
Featured photo by Mutsatpha Kommeh
