MONROVIA, LIBERIA – The Liberian government has acknowledged the cause of recent internet disruptions in the country, attributing the outages to the construction of the PHP Park in Central Monrovia. The announcement came on Thursday, April 3, 2025, from the Ministry of Information, with Deputy Minister for Press and Public Affairs, Hon. Daniel Sando, confirming that the placement of heavy rocks over the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable during the park’s construction caused significant damage to the vital internet infrastructure.
Speaking at a news conference, Minister Sando explained that the ACE cable, which is responsible for transmitting the country’s internet data, passes through the area where the PHP Park is being built. The construction activities led to the cable being buried under large quantities of rocks, resulting in intermittent internet outages that have plagued Liberia since the park’s construction began.
Minister Sando highlighted that the disruption was first identified by technicians from the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), who discovered the problem amid increasing public complaints about the poor internet service. He reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring uninterrupted internet access for the public and assured that efforts were underway to resolve the issue.
In response to the situation, the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), along with the Cable Consortium of Liberia (CCL), has commenced major repair and rerouting work on the damaged cable. Henry Benson, CEO of the Cable Consortium of Liberia, expressed concerns that the contractor responsible for the PHP Park failed to heed warnings about the park’s location over the cable landing point. “We did write a letter, we pushed, but our resistance to this whole infrastructure was ignored unfortunately,” Benson remarked.
The rerouting process is expected to be complex and costly, requiring significant financial and technical resources. Despite these challenges, Acting Commissioner Clarence K. Massaquoi assured the public that contingency plans were in place to minimize the impact of the repair work. Massaquoi emphasized that internet service would not be completely interrupted during the rerouting process.
The repair efforts are already underway, with technical experts working on rerouting the cable to a new path that will avoid future obstructions. A ship carrying additional technicians is expected to arrive in Liberia on April 22 to support the repair operations.
The ACE submarine cable, which provides Liberia’s only fiber-optic internet connection, landed in the country in 2011 via the PHP beach. The rerouting is necessitated by the construction of a monument at the PHP Park, which now blocks direct access to the cable.
