NTA Decries Low Budgetary Allotment

Monrovia, Liberia: The Deputy Managing Director of Operations at the National Transit Authority, Noah Zarwu Gibson, has alarmed over low budgetary allotment to the NTA, which has limited the entity's capacity to execute other functions that would enhance basic transportation services to the public.

Gibson explained that the little over US$2 million was allocated in the 2025 Fiscal Year National Budget, which according to him is insufficient to fully capacitate the NTA to perform other functions beyond just procuring buses for transportation purposes.

Speaking with journalists during the weekend at the unveiling ceremony of three news buses at NTA Headquarters along the Japan Freeway, Gibson pointed out that, as part of its functions, NTA is responsible to oversee the roadworthiness of vehicles and ensure that all government’s vehicles are repaired and maintained.

But Gibson said that aspect of the NTA functions has not been effective due to the budgetary constraints the entity is faced with.

He calls for a budgetary increment for the NTA so as to capacitate the entity to enforce policy on roadworthy vehicles.

The NTA Deputy Managing Director of Operations recounted the tragic incident on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, in which a motorcyclist lost his life after a sewer truck lost control around a slipway, which was tied to a faulty brake.

He added that when financially capacitated, the NTA plans to issue permits to roadworthy vehicles and restrict vehicles that are not roadworthy, which could help mitigate road incidents derived from faulty vehicles.

Gibson used the medium to call on President Joseph Boakai and the 55^th Legislature to consider reasonable budgetary support in the next fiscal year that will capacitate the NTA to execute other functions.

He also wants the public to join the advocacy for increased budgetary allotment to increase the NTA capacity to allow the entity to effectively execute its function and responsibility to the general public.

“All we need is for the public to stand with us to ask the Legislature to increase the budget of the National Transit Authority so we can get more buses in the country,” NTA Deputy Managing Director for Operations intoned.

Established by Legislative Enactment on September 11, 2008, the National Transit Authority (NTA) was approved into law by Excellency President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on March 24, 2009.

The NTA has its roots in the erstwhile Monrovia Transit Authority (MTA), created in 1977 as a department of the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC) to provide affordable mass transit service to the residents of Monrovia.

The Unity Party-led government, under the leadership of President Sirleaf, envisioned that to holistically address the challenge of poverty in Liberia, it was important to decentralize governance and all services appertaining thereto.

In October 2011, with a generous donation by the Government of India of 25 Ashok Leyland Falcon buses, the Government of Liberia officially launched its mass transit services for the people of Liberia.

This donation was soon followed by the purchase of an additional 8 new buses by the government to further augment NTA’s capacity to extend access to mass transit services for our people.

Significantly, the remodeling of the MTA into the NTA seeks to decentralize the provision of affordable, convenient, and reliable mass transit services to citizens throughout the length and breadth of our country.