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Besides, this segment of the Liberian population constitutes the
only group of people in the country who fully enjoys the
advantages of modern transport.
II. COMMUNICATION
The distribution and utilization of modern communication
facilities is very uneven in nearly every developing country.
However, the Liberian case provides an extreme example of how
communication works and how installations, which were financed by
public funds, are monopolized by a small number of privileged
people. We will abstain here from the historical development of
this important sector of the national economy (49).
Liberia's internal public telephone network is (i) severely
underdeveloped, with less than 8,000 lines and not even 6,000
subscribers in the entire country, and (ii) heavily concentrated
in the Monrovia area. In fact, in 1979, more than 93 per cent of
the country's total number of subscribers were found in the
capital. The rest of Montserrado County has about the same number
of subscribers as do the other four coastal counties together
(about 150). The inland counties are virtually excluded. The
number of subscribers in the four inland counties practically
equal those in the natal village of President Tolbert, Bentol,
which town in itself accounts for half of the total number of
subscribers in Montserrado County outside the capital (see Table
67).
This is in sharp contrast with the facilities created to
communicate with the rest of the world. In 1976 a $ 3 million
earth satellite station was opened in Sinkor, Monrovia, which
linked Liberia with 70 other countries in the world. The
telecommunication relay station was equipped with 24 telephone
channels, but besides providing telephone services, it also
provided telegraph and telex services to an equal number of
countries. In 1978 it was announced that in preparation for the
O.A.U. conference the capacity was to be increased from 24 to 48
channels (50). Other preparations for the summit meeting of the
Pan-African organization included the equipment of the Conference
Centre in Virginia with a 500 line telephone system and of 40
telex machines (51). Obviously, President Tolbert found Liberia's
image abroad more important than the country's domestic needs and
priorities.
Also in 1976 the Omega Navigation . Station, constructed by the
U.S. Government, was officially inaugurated. The $ 7,4 million
Omega Navigational Station, located in Paynesville, is the
tallest manmade structure in Africa (1,440 ft high) and serves
both military and civil purposes. It permits the co-ordination
of U.S. military activities, makes (military) espionage possible,
and serves (commercial) ships and aircraft. It should be noted
that both the telecommunication relay station and the Omega
Navigation Station are of extreme importance for the U.S.A.