US$1.2m Needed to Reopen Vocational Training Center In Liberia MVTC

The Inquirer
Monrovia, Liberia

Distributed by

The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia

May 27, 2003

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the renovated Monrovia Vocational Training Center,(MVTC), Education Minister Dr. Evelyn Kandakai has disclosed that about US$1.2 million is needed for equipment and furnishing of the center before its reopening.

Speaking to a group of journalists after a meeting held by the Board of Directors at the center, Dr. Kandakai said the MVTC though renovated, has not been equipped nor furnished, as such the board is seeking funding for the rehabilitation of the facilities at the center.

Dr. Kandakai asserted that the Government of Liberia (GOL) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have both committed themselves to provide funds for the rehabilitation and reopening of the center.

She said First Lady Jewel Howard-Taylor has made a proposal which if implemented, will contribute to the funding, relative to the operation of the center.

The MVTC board’s chairman then called on NGOs, friendly governments and well-meaning individuals to come and assist the center with funds and equipment to train Liberian youths who have been affected by the continuous fighting in the country.

Dr. Kandakai who used the occasion to tour the renovated facilities at the center, said the MVTC is for war-weary people, noting that those who have decided to use the guns as a means of solving their problems should understand that the Liberian people are tired with war and are eager to acquire some skills for their future.

Speaking also to journalists, the executive director of the MVTC, Mr. Ainwell D. Twe Nimely said the center is expected to recruit one thousand young people for the first phase of the training at the center.