The engineering unit of UNMIL Bangladeshi Contingent (BANENGR-18) continues to make remarkable contribution to Liberia’s infrastructural development. In addition to equipping the Ministry of Public Works personnel with the technical know-how to effectively supervise road works, BANENGR-18 has completed the rehabilitation work on the 94-kilometer Gbarnga-Zorzor Highway, a main supply route for Liberians and UNMIL peacekeepers.

The Bangladeshi peacekeepers installed concrete culverts, filled potholes with laterites, and constructed gutters at many spots of the road.

Operations Officer Captain Ferdous Hassanthey said they decided to fix the road because it was in a very deplorable condition last rainy season. He noted that locals voluntarily joined them in the rehabilitation works and commended them for helping improve the country’s road network.

Captain Hassan said it was very nice to work alongside the excited locals “who even came out at night to look after the road-building equipment, making sure that they were safe.”

Paul Martin, a resident of a town on the highway said the appalling state of the road last year immensely affected the residents’ socio-economic activities. “The road was cut in two and became impassable; we had to come out in numbers to pull cars out of the mud. We are so impressed with the level of work that the Bangladeshi peacekeepers have done here that we have even volunteered to work alongside them, mixing the concrete, among other little things.”

One of the volunteers, John Kermue exclaimed, “We won’t face the problem of bad road condition around here again, looking at the level of work the Bangladeshis have done at this trouble spot. During last rainy season, most of the farm produce - pepper, banana, plantain, oranges, etc. being taken to the market got piled up here and got spoiled, because the road was just too bad.”