Protest Hits Transport Ministry as Employees Demand Immediate Cancellation of LTMI Deal

MONROVIA, LIBERIA: Normal working activities at the Ministry of Transport came to a momentary standstill on Tuesday, March 3, following a protest staged by employees who said the operation of the Liberia Traffic Management Incorporated (LTMI) is undermining their jobs.

Aggrieved employees moved to block the main entrances of the Ministry, calling for the immediate cancellation of the concession agreement between the Liberia Traffic Management Incorporated and the government of Liberia.

According to reports, the Liberia Traffic Management Incorporated, a foreign-run company, signed a 25-year concession agreement with the Liberian government to oversee road traffic operations in the country.

The agreement outsourced the registration of driver's licenses and vehicle registrations to LTMI from the Ministry of Transport.

Protesting workers said that the outsourcing of key statutory functions of the Ministry has slowed down their assigned duties and expressed fear about the fate of their jobs.

One of the aggrieved employees, Lusu Yarcy, said the revenue collection generation on driver licenses and vehicle registration was instructed to be closed by the Ministry, although there is a case before the court on collection revenue in that light in the face of the LMTI concession.

Yarcy said the job at the Transport Ministry is her only source of income. She stated that with the Liberia Traffic Management overseeing driver licensing and vehicle registration processes, it risks downplaying some workers and getting food off their tables.

"You take Liberians from the country and get it to Lebanese people? We get our family to feed. Our children are going to school on the salaries we earn. We are not going to take it."

"We are making our little salary here, and we are happy. They are making millions of dollars and they want to take out chicken change from us." Lusu noted.

The demonstration at the Ministry was later put under control by the police's intervention. Deputy Inspector General of Liberia National Police, Nelson Freeman, urged protesters to remain peaceful as they express their grievances.

He said it would be inappropriate to block entrances and stall the functions of the Ministry while expressing their dissatisfactions.

"We are encouraging you that if you have dissatisfactions, there are ways to express them. What we will not encourage is for anybody to stop the functionaries of government ministries", Freeman added.

Also speaking at the scene was the Director General of the Civil Service Agency, Josiah Joekai. He advised aggrieved employees to disengage, and assured them that their jobs remain intact in the face of the LTMI concession agreement.

"We have had meetings with all of your directors, who, in the face of the LTM no employee is losing his or her job, and that the government maintains you on the payroll. We are also going to work with you in the face of the transition", the CSA Boss stated.

The LTMI and the Ministry of Transport's simultaneous engagement on vehicle registrations and driver license issuances has sparked serious concerns in the public, especially among commercial motorists who are alarming that the situation is posing a setback to their transportation services.