The_Open_Door_deel1

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they numbered 126,452. But an important characteristic of
Liberia's international air traffic is that most passengers are
transit passengers. Thus, in 1979 86.5$ of total international
air passengers consisted of transit passengers, (47).
Unfortunately, reliable data on the (growth of the) number of
domestic air traffic passengers are not available. There seem to
be indications that the number of domestic air traffic passengers
dropped during the 1960's, partly as a result of the opening up
of the interior of the country by new roads, partly owing to the
reduced activities of the national airline company, which in
1970 owned only one plane, a 20 year old DC-3. In the late 1970's
the number of domestic air traffic passengers reported increased
significantly (48).
CONCLUSION
It may be concluded that the Liberian Transport Sector is
characterized by three features which at the same time act as
major constraints for future economic development. First, the
neglect of the "Hinterland". This hinders or slows down the
transition from a subsistence-economy to a modern, monetary,
economy. As a consequence the tribal population is prevented from
(full) participation in "Twentieth Century Liberia". The
Unification Policy, introduced by the late President Tubman, if
at all sincere and real in political sense, decidedly does not
exist from an economic point of view. The second feature is the
export-oriented character of the network of transportation
facilities. This characteristic is closely connected with-the
first one. As a consequence, the transportation facilities mainly
serve the interests of the foreign investors who use them to
export the produce of their operations. The investments of these
companies are the backbone of the monetary economy. They are
supply-oriented rather than market-oriented. This explains why the
railroad and seaport sectors were financed by foreign investors
and the Governments of their countries of origin respectively.
Processing industries do virtually not exist in Liberia. There
are only two companies in the country which use locally produced
raw materials: Liramco (created in 1976) and the Liberian Matches
Corporation (created in 1959)- Their output, employment, forward
and/or backward linking effect, and foreign exchange earning
capacity are, however, insignificant in the context of the
national economy. As will be shown below the output of the major
investors (rubber, iron ore, diamonds, forestry products) are
exported as raw materials.
Last, but not least, the Liberian transport sector is, in
general, characterized by a lack or shortage of trained and
qualified manpower for management and operational positions.
Consequently, and despite the existence of legal texts to the
contrary, foreigners (also) dominate this sector of the economy.
This predominance is based either on concession agreements and
management contracts concluded with the Liberian Government or
on the tacit approval of Liberia's ruling class.