I know I'm here, but where is here?

Liberia's systems are not always clear to outsiders. Taxis travel specified routes and passengers flag those routes through a series of hand gestures. Waterside, the outdoor market, provides few clues to its workings even after hours of exploration. On top of that, Liberian English has diverged so greatly from standard American English, that several months of learning are needed to understand it. Once a person needs a system, he learns it and seems to become comfortable quickly. However, systems like Liberia's are custom, informal, and to internal to Liberia. Formal systems that should be clear to anyone entering Liberia are sometimes left to custom as well. This is most evident and particularly problematic in Liberia's address system.

Liberia has a standard format according to its Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Its prescribed location standard is the nearest intersection. This convention may lack precision, but it is probably better than using landmarks which is a commonly accepted informal practice for giving direction. The current standard also includes a post code, city and area code, but in my review of thousands of government records, I've never seen either codes listed or required. The problem of adhering to the standard comes from both government and the general public.

Even official documents are not structured to require the current standard. Address fields are listed as address without being subdivided. This allows the public to include only a neighborhood or a street name, without a number, city, country or even a cross street. This is most common for Monrovia addresses. Addresses outside of Monrovia usually include a town name, but this does not allow outsiders to participate. So, this is sufficient for locals, those with knowledge of Liberia, to operate, but even for Liberians, the assumptions of the search based on a street name must are often insufficient.

Liberia's postal service is undergoing reform to meet international standards according to a June, 2009 AllAfrica.com article. The system will be similar to that used in The United States. The Universal Postal Union, a division of the United Nations, began reforms in 2006. The reform plan's author considers the plan to have been successfully implemented with a few minor exceptions according to the article. The plan concludes in 2015. The American government evaluated Liberia's service in 2007. After this, The United States donated equipment to further the Liberian effort in March 2008. Since then, efforts toward implementation have been unclear. The Ministry of Post and Telecom had a public meeting about the update in November of 2009, but I could find not record of follow-up activity.

Despite having a plan and receiving outside resources, no such reform is clear at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Business records from 2009 still lack city and county information for many firms. Even when sending a letter within Monrovia, Ministry employees expect to use a courier, an expensive activity that is also limited in its scale. While mobile telephone calls are preferred communication and have ability to reach people instantly and at any given location, they lack status as official documents. In 2010, two years after American and UN consultant helped to revise Liberia's system, no improvements have been implemented.

Liberia's system is harmful to the nation for its inefficiency and is a barrier to trade. This harm is shown in several ways. This lack of progress restricts movement of residents by requiring knowledge through experience instead of providing a clear logic for them to follow. A lacking address system also discourages the growth of firms because having more than one location can easily cause confusion. A standardized system would not only allow Liberia to interact internally, it would also allow it to send goods and services internationally with far greater ease as well. A nation cannot trade well when its partners cannot ship to the doorstep of their customers and partners. International export will be greatly important to Liberia's redevelopment efforts. The urgency of reform becomes even greater in this light.

The government needs a reformed postal service as much or more than other organizations, yet this problem is exacerbated by non-enforcement of standard addressing by government agencies. Government is the place to start implementation of this reform and more political will must be shown to make it happen. The leg work has been done. Now, ministries must dust off plans that have gathered dust for two years and promote this societal upgrade.

Without a standard postal system, Liberia will be hampered by the most simple efforts. Even in the age of the Internet and the ubiquity of mobile phones, land addresses are critical to a country. The movement of physical goods and actual people has no digital substitute. Liberia must create a base to leap from and it must do it with urgency.

Sources:

The Ministry of Posts & Telecomm. Hosts a Donors' Conference on National Postal Address System

Friday, 20th November 2009

http://www.mopt.gov.lr/press.php?news_id=21

Liberia: Postal System Recovering

Allafrica.com 1 Jun 2009

www.allafrica.com/stories/200906010279.html

Liberians Soon May Be Getting More Mail, with U.S. Help

Department of State, press release, 7 Apr 2008

http://www.america.gov/st/develop-english/2008/April/20080407135051TDpper0.0736658.html