Monrovia, Liberia - Vice President Chief Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor, on Thursday, October 11, 2018, paid a visit with the National Center for the Coordination and Response Mechanism (NCCRM) in the wake of constant complaints by the employees on challenges facing the Center.

NCCRM is an early warning response mechanism which alerts relevant authorities of any threats to the peace and security of a country, region or the continent.

A release from the office of the Vice President recalled that in February of this year, Vice President Howard-Taylor officially launched the NCCRM, paying special tribute to those visionaries in the sub-regional framework who conceived this peace-building and peace sustaining initiative.

During the visit, the employees through the Director of the Center, Dr. Roland T. Clarke, complained of six month in salary arrears which he said, has caused mass resignations and stalled the operations of the Center.

Under the Agreement that established the NCCRM, the Government of Liberia is responsible to provide operational funds while the United States Embassy through ECOWAS is to provide salary for the period of two years.

But Government, according Mr. Clark, has made available an amount of US$ 60,000 from a budget of US$ 100,000 as operational funds to the entity.

Responding to the employees’ concerns, Vice President Howard-Taylor called on them to remain calm as she has taken note of the challenges and is committed to searching for the resolution of the unfortunate situation.

She also promised to communicate with the U.S Embassy, the ECOWAS Commission and other International partners to assist in tackling the challenges facing the Center.

Vice President Howard-Taylor also used her visit at the National Early Warning Center to tour the temporary offices of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS)Sub-center in Liberia.

The SDGs Sub-center covers the Manor River Union countries and West Africa with a focus to effectively executing various SDGs programs in the region.

A team from the Ministry of Public Works, which is responsible to renovate and equip the SDGs Sub-center also accompanied Vice President Howard-Taylor during the tour.