The Government of Liberia (GOL) and partners on Monday, October 21, 2024, began the validation process of the Draft Zoning Act for Liberia. The draft legislation introduced by the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) through the World Bank-financed Liberia Urban Resilience Project (LURP), is intended to address the numerous challenges and limitations presented by the current Zoning Law of Liberia, enacted in 1958.
The draft law, when ratified by the Legislature, will promote efficient and effective land development and management in Liberia, and help to address the many zoning issues presently confronting the country.
The validation workshop presented a unique opportunity for stakeholders to collaborate on this milestone national initiative through engaging in a review process that will contribute to strengthening the document. The revision of the Zoning Law is among several urban policy reform initiatives and landmark infrastructure investments anticipated under the LURP launched in June 2023; the project aims to address Liberia’s pressing challenges related to flooding, climate risks, and urban management deficiencies through a US$40 million World Bank endowment.
This project will invest in climate-resilient infrastructure to reduce flooding, climate risks, and increase access to basic services in Monrovia, in line with the government’s ARREST Agenda, while also enhancing urban management capacities.
Speaking during the occasion, Minister of Public Works Roland Layfette Giddings said it is a call to national duty, and he expects that everyone puts all the time required to get the validation to where it should be.
He said the previous Zoning Law was not too good to deal with some issues when it comes to urban planning, saying that urban planning is very key to social economic development, through delivering goods and services and enhancing environmental sustainability.
The new law is intended to deal with some of the gaps, the crosscutting issues in some of the entities they are working with, including the Ministry of internal Affairs, Land Commission and City Government. He said the onus is upon them to create a kind of coordination and collaboration between these institutions, to ensure that the new law is implemented to enhance the kind of urban planning they need to grow the economy of the country.
Minister Giddings said the situation of climate change continues to affect countries around the world. He said the design and implementation of Liberia’s infrastructure should be in line with that and urban planning is a must.
“The Ministry of Public Works has begun a process of opening the communities and it will go across the country, We will be working with the local government, so that those who build in waterways, Grenache system, thereby calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to work along with them.
Also speaking Ellen Pratt, Deputy Minister for Urban Affairs at the Ministry of Public Works, said the Zoning will help to define how the cities look, and it is also a tool for economic development. She said zoning is the tool for quality life; thus this new law is not from any other country, it was made in Liberia, for Liberia.
“We do not have a lot of agriculture; implementation is a key, and we think urban development and rural development is important for Liberia,” she said. The Ministry of Public Works (MPW) is leading implementation of the project with the support of various government ministries, agencies, and townships.
Stakeholders, include the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), alongside the Monrovia City Corporation (MCC), the Paynesville City Corporation (PCC), the Liberia Land Authority, and the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo-Information services.
