Liberia President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has officially opened the Liberia Maritime Training Institute (LMTI) in Marshall City, Liberia. It is managed by the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR).
The state-of-the-art facility is named after John G Bestman, [ds_preview]former Liberian finance minister and a member of the board of governors of the Central Bank of Liberia. It has undergone a massive renovation and facility modernisation programme over the past two years, resulting in the creation of a new campus and state-of-the-art facilities. According to LISCR there are currently 24 full-time cadet-students – selected after an exhaustive nationwide program of interviews and examinations – studying mechanical and electrical engineering on campus at LMTI.
President Johnson-Sirleaf toured the 17.3-acre facility, which includes a newly constructed hi-tech workshop accommodating a machinery shop, a welding and gas-cutting shop, an electrical lab, an electronics lab, a machining shop, and a seamanship shop. Other facilities include a computer lab, ship simulators, air-conditioned classrooms, a training swimming pool, and gymnasium.
