The President’s Recovery Priorities aimed at ensuring that the country’s economy that was adversely affected by the Ebola Outbreak is back on the path of full recovery.
The Word Bank estimates the economic damage of the outbreak, which devastated the mining, agriculture and tourism industries in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, at 2.2 billion dollars in 2014-2015.
The President’s Recovery Priorities Second phase was launched on Monday at the Tonkolili District Council Hall, Magburaka.
Delivering his keynote address, President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma acknowledged that despite they have achieved progress on Phase one, there is still more work to be done to restore the economy. He described the recovery priorities as an investment in the lives of the people, and a new way of working with government Ministries, Departments and Agencies and also with development partners, the private sector and the citizens.
According to the President, within the one year period of phase two of the recovery priorities the key results expected to achieve among others; strengthen the health sector to prevent future epidemics and save at least six hundred women and five thousand children from dying.
He added that forty seven thousand families will be provided with cash transfers that will take them out of abject poverty and ensure continuous care and support to EVD affected persons and survivors.
He further explained that under access to safe drinking water, they will provide safe, affordable and sustainable water supply services to six hundred thousand people in Freetown and over seven hundred thousand in the rural areas.
The government is also committed to increase access to energy, improve the quality of education by training over forty thousand teachers, provide over ten thousand jobs in the agriculture sector, and will also in the fight against corruption addresses vital governance issues.
