Rehabilitation Commences at University of Liberia Engineering Building, Fendell Campus
The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Liberia Community Infrastructure Program (LCIP) on Thursday July 16, 2009 will start the rehabilitation of the University of Liberia Engineering Building, located at its Fendell Campus outside Monrovia. The rehabilitation work on this massive two storey building, which served as home to thousands of internally displaced people in the 1990s, is funded through a grant from the American People in the amount of US$ 1,200,000.00 to the University of Liberia.
Minister of Education Dr. Joseph Korto, University of Liberia President Dr. Emmett Dennis, USAID Mission Director Pamela White will celebrate the commencement of the rehabilitation effort by symbolically repairing broken concrete on a walk-way of the facility.
The rehabilitation of this giant-size structure (80,000 square feet) will provide a quality learning environment for a variety of engineering disciplines including Civil Engineering, Soils and Geotechnical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer based Engineering. It also will provide a training center for professional road maintenance.
Through this grant, rehabilitation will include the repair of the entire roof, supply and installation of doors and windows, a new electrical systems, water supply and distribution systems, ceiling tiles, a new septic tank, water reservoir system, painting of exterior and interior wall surfaces. Also included in the grant is the delivery of new desks, chairs, drafting tables and faculty desks, along with 6 solar powered security lights.
The rehabilitation was designed by AEP Consultants – a Liberian architecture firm, and a Liberian owned construction company, Sawyer and Associates won the competitive tender for the contract. The LCIP Engineering team will supervise the project. Over 100 skilled and unskilled laborers are expected to be employed through this rehabilitation project, which is planned to be completed in less than 5 months.
The University of Liberia Engineering Building-Fendell Campus is one of several key public works currently under rehabilitation by USAID’s LCIP. The National Elections Commission (NEC) Headquarters, the Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts(TNIMA), Medina – Robertsport Road, Todee-Bong Mines Road and the City Hall in Maryland County are also due to be completed over the course of 2009.