Published: September 16, 2026
PLEEBO, Maryland County — Residents of five southeastern counties will be able to get driver and motorcycle training and process transport documents closer to home once a US$187,679 Ministry of Transport regional office is completed in Maryland County.
The ministry broke ground on the office Tuesday in Pleebo-Sodoken District. The ministry expects to finish the building before the end of the year. It will serve Maryland, Grand Kru, River Gee, Grand Gedeh and Sinoe counties, whose residents now have to leave their counties for many of those services, according to Wilmont B. Chearu, the ministry’s director for planning, policy and research.
“When completed, this office will provide citizens with easier access to the services of the Ministry of Transport without having to travel long distances,” Chearu said.
Deputy Transport Minister Rudolph Natt said the office is part of a national push to decentralize the ministry’s services and cut the cost and travel burden on residents of counties far from Monrovia. He said similar groundbreaking ceremonies were being held in Bomi, Nimba and Lofa counties.
Natt also said the ministry has engaged the Finance Ministry about adding about 10 to 11 Maryland County residents to the government payroll, with recruitment expected later this year. He said the ministry would keep a permanent presence in the county once the office opens.
Natt, who described himself as a son of Maryland County, said the ministry had already been considering decentralization but that Maryland County Sen. James P. Biney’s advocacy sped up the decision to build the office in Pleebo-Sodoken. He also credited County Coordinator Paul Geneyan with coordinating the project.
Local officials said the project would bring jobs as well as services.
Pleebo City Mayor Larry Geekor said construction would create work for young people and increase economic activity in the area. He urged the contractor to hire qualified Maryland County residents and pledged the city’s cooperation during construction. He also credited President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and the ministry for the project.
Maryland County Superintendent Nathaniel S. Toe Jr. said the office marks progress in bringing government services closer to residents and could draw more development to the county. He said public projects should be judged by their benefit to citizens rather than by political affiliation, and he urged residents to protect them.
Toe thanked the traditional authorities of Pleebo-Sodoken for providing the land and urged the contractor to finish on schedule. He said his administration would keep working with lawmakers and other officials to complete projects already underway in the county.
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